Malaysia Night

Malyasia Night is a relatively new event in Trafalgar Square.  Food stalls run by restaurants lined the edges of the square serving all kinds of delicious Malaysian food (I had curry Laksa).  There were also stalls selling clothes and other Malaysian produce and a big stage on which there was some singing and dancing,

The event felt rather low key but the food was so good and it was nice to be able to hang out in Trafalgar Square with friends before the weather turns too cold.

The Japan Centre

The Japan Centre near Piccadilly Circus is a large Japanese supermarket flanked by Japanese restaurants.  It sells food, alcohol, crockery, books, magazines, beauty products amongst other Japanese products.

Caribbean films at the Tabernacle

Not many posts back I was lamenting that I'd never find anything to do for Antigua and Barbuda. Luckily for me the Portobello Road film festival showcased a series of Caribbean Films at the Tabernacle between Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park.

I attended the event over 3 evenings and saw films from a number of countries, of which my favourite being from Antigua and Barbuda. It was called Memoirs of the Blue and was about the destructive relationship betwen a young couple told through a series of letters and flashbacks.

I also watched a harrowing film about child abuse from Barbados (a subject that you wouldn't have guessed from the summary in the programme), and a series of short films:

- Jesus TV from Venezuela about Jesus returning and getting his own reality TV show.
- The Village from Aruba, about a teenager getting hassled by gang members in his neighbourhood.
- 20 Years from Cuba about married life.
- Tree Fern Carver from Dominica / France, a short documentary.
- The Other Side of Carnival from Trinidad / USA, a documentary exploring the effect of carnival on Trindad.
- Raianbow Hill from Trinidad / Mexico a stop motion animation.

Borough Market

Borough Market has a lot of different stalls from around the world with plenty of choice of products from Spain, Italy and France as well as a few things from Germany, South Africa and the Caribbean. I wasn't expecting to see a Grenadan stall though.  I bought some Grenadan liquer to warm up the rainy afternoon.

South African Biltong

Spanish coffees

Kings Cross has never really struck me as the nicest area of central London but as my family live up North I'm often passing through the area. So I was pleased as punch to discover Camino, a smart looking Spanish bar/restaurant/cafe just off Pentonvolle Road.

Amongst the kind of coffees you can find in any cafe they serve cafe bombom (espresso with condensed milk) and carajillo (coffee with brandy), two drinks that remind me of my holiday to Alicante last year. What's more they host club nights and I spotted my favourite French DJ Jerome from Sun Bailante was scheduled to play there that evening.

German Deli in London Bridge

This German shop has lots of types of mustard and gummibears amongst its shelves along with plenty of other German products. It didn't seem too expensive either.

Mobile blogging

Blogging can be a time consuming process. Sometimes I stare at my laptop screen and have no inspiration at all and sometimes I find so many distractions that the hour I'd intended to use to blog is suddenly over.

This is my first venture into updating my blog from my phone. Let's hope it works so I can make use of my journeys into work on the train.

Mans Cloth

By El Anatsui from Ghana

Knowledge is Sweeter than Honey

Created by Egyptian artist Susan Hefuna

Contemporary Art at the British Museum

Shortly after Mozambique's independence from Portugal in the 1974 the country plunged into civil war.  It is estimated that 7 to 10 million guns flooded into the country, which is an incredible amount when you consider how small the population of Mozambique is.  According to the Small Arms Survey of 2007 the asking price of an AK 47 in Mozambique was found to be $30 which is about £19 based on the current exchange rate (and this was probably less back in 2007).  

Schemes were set up after the civil war to encourage people to exchange weapons for tools and a group of artists (Cristovao Canhavto, Adelino Serafim Mate, Fiel dos Santos, Hilario Nhatugueja) have made the below sculptures - Throne of Weapons (by Cristovao Canhavto) and Tree of Life (by all 4 artist)

Kokrobite

Kokrobite is a village in Ghana and is also the name of this artwork by Atta Kwami.

Free

Free by Owusu Ankomah from Ghana was commissioned to mark the bicentury of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in 2007.

Dar Es Salaam by Night

By Tanzanian artist Isa Saidi Mitole who is part of a collective of artists who comment on Tanzanian life through their work.  This painting is designed to show the effects of distributing free condoms in the fight against AIDS.

Contemporary African art in the British Museum

I love modern art but the British Museum has such a strong brand of 'history' that I wasn't even aware that they had anything contemporary (aside from occasional temporary exhibitions which they do advertise).

The juxtaposition of African contemporary art with African historical artifacts invites comparison between past and present, which I suppose is the intention.  I've never seen any other art displayed this way, so I'm not sure what to make of it really

Since there are quite a few artists I will split them up here:

This is Khayelitsha by South African artist Ticha Nyaruviro.  Khayelitsha, which means 'new home' in Xhosa is a township outside Cape Town.

Wooden headrest

This wooden headrest is designed to help a diviner contact ancestors through a dream.  It comes from the Shona people in Zimbabwe.

Costa Rican pendant

This pendant depicts a human figure undergoing transformation.

Water spirits

These water spirits are from the Melanau people of Sarawak, Malaysia.

Sea spiirt

This sea spirit would have been found in a canoe house shrine in the Solomon Islands.

Clothes for mourning

A mourning cap made from flux seeds to be worn by women in the months after the death of their husband in Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea.

Boys' hats

Caps for boys from Afghanistan (left) , Iran (top) and Turkmenistan (bottom).

Jewelry

These necklaces from Palestine are made from glass, tortoise shell, leather, bone and cloth.

Water bag

A goat skin water bag from Mauritania.

House Post

A house post from the Iatmul people of Papua New Guinea.

The Mexican Gallery

This is a sculpture of Huaustec Goddess from Mexico. According to the British Museums these statues are related to the earth goddess Tlazolteotl who was associated with filth and carnal sin.


I didn't realise that the people we call Aztecs never used this word to refer to themselves.  It means 'people from Aztlán' which was the ancestral home of the Nahuatlaca people.

This stone figure is of Xochipilli, the flower prince, who is a solar deity. He is the patron of feasting, dancing, music and poetry.

Xiuhcoatl the fire serpent.

I am currently trying to read books that have recently won the Man Booker Prize but the more I scratch the surface of the world history and beliefs the more I realise that I really don't know anything much at all.  So maybe I should switch reading material and then I can come back and write some more detailed posts about the period that all these artifacts are from.

A seat to communicate with the spirit world

This wooden seat is called a Duho and was created by the Taino people of the Dominican Republic. It is carved into the shape of an ancestor spirit called a cemi (or zemi) and was used during ceremonies to communicate with the spirit world.

The two major gods of the Taino people were Yúcahu who was the god of cassava and the sea, and Atabey who was the mother of Yúcahu and was the goddess of fresh water and fertility/

British Museum

My historical and cultural tour continues at the British Museum.

I spent a couple of hours there and by the end I was getting 'museum fatigue' so I'll have to return another time to finish my education.

I'll start with a couple of Peruvian artifacts:

This is a Nasca funerary bowl. The Nasca  (or Nazca) people lived around the time 100 BC to 750 AD in Southern Peru.  They are the people that created the Nasca drawings  - huge geoglyphs (that's drawings on the ground to you and me) in the Nasca desert.

According to Wikipedia the Nasca had polychrome pottery and used up to 15 different colours.

Nascan pottery also depicted local plants, animals, priests and deities.

Polish poetry in the underground

Poems on the Underground has been running since 1986.  There is currently a collection of Polish poems on display in some tube stations and I've spotted them at Oxford Circus and Holborn so far.

Supreme Courts of the World

There is currently a small display at the Supreme Court in Parliament Square about how Supreme Courts compare to each other and to the UK systems in 9 different countries around the world.

Bangkok Street Food

Addie's Thai restaurant in Earls Court serves some delicious Thai food.

I had a tasty Thai iced tea with condensed milk called a milky way and tried some of my friends' food too.