Trade Routes

Trade Routes is an exhibition at the Piccadilly branch of Hauser and Wirth.  According to the gallery the exhibition:

"presents a diverse picture of where [these] trade routes stand in today’s globalised society through the lens of 15 artists."

Triptychs from the 'Food for Thought' series by Maha Malluh.  The tapes are all of sermons and they are distributed from Saudi Arabia to the Middle East and Africa.

Slipper by Hassan Sharif which represents the evolution of the United Arab Emirates from a nomadic to a consumer society.

From the series 'Les Maitres Invisibles' by Rachid Koraïchi.

Fatima Al Qadiri & Khalid al Gharaballi - Mendeel Um A7mad.  This video was about the Kuwait ritual of pre-noon tea called Chai Dahaha.

Other works in the exhibition

Ground floor
Bettina Pousttchi - Piccadilly Windows
Monir Farmanfarmaiain - Installation of Seven Elements
Bharti Kher - Not all who wander are lost
Alighero Boeti - Mappa
David Zink Yi- Neusilber
Lee Xe - Bardo

Mezzanine
Gülsün Karamustafa - Double Jesus and the Baby Antelope

Upstairs
Soubodh Cupta - Untitled
Adel Abidin - Three Love Songs

Vault Room
West Shawky - Al Araba al Madfuna

More information can be found on the gallery website: http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/1773/trade-routes/view/

Hey'ya Arab Women in Sport

Hooray for the Metro newspaper!  I was reading it on the Bakerloo line heading to Casa Brazil in Somerset House when I saw that they recommended this exhibition in Sothebys, nearest tube Oxford Circus. So out I jumped at the aforementioned stop and managed to visit a good portion of the Middle East in one go.

The exhibition comprises of a series of photos and interviews with sportswomen from Muslim countries.

Women in sport is quite a topical issue at the moment. This is the first ever modern Olympics where women have been allowed to compete from every country.

Lizzie Armstrong who won a cycling silver medal this week used her interview to highlight continuing discrimination against sportswomen in the UK.  So, as you might imagine, some of the women interviewed in this exhibition have had a hard time of it and several mentioned challenges they face. These ranged from criticism that sport makes you less of a woman (Sudan), a lack of facilities (Morocco), sport not being a subject taught to girls in schools (Saudi Arabia) and the risk of being murdered by Islamic extremists (Somalia).

It was inspiring to see so many young women talking about how much they loved their sport and some of whom were realising their dreams by representing their country in the 2012 Olympics.

Masters of Transvangarde

Transvangarde is a type of post avant garde art.  And your guess is as good as mine as to what that actually means.

I wonder if there is a link between the October Gallery and the British Museum as I have seen three artists (El Anatsui, Owusu-Ankomah and Rachid Koraichi) exhibiting in both places.

In this exhibition there was work by the following artists:

El Anatsui, Ghana
Ninenna Okore, Nigeria
Owusu-Ankomah, Ghana
Willian S Burroughs, USA
Brion Gysin, England
Gerald Wilde, England
Kenji Yoshida, Japan
Rachid Koraichi, Algeria
Golnaz Fathi, Iran
Govinda Singh, Nepal
Lala Shawa, Palestine
Julien Sinzogan, Benin
Aubrey Willians, Guyana

Calligraphic figures

I love these calligraphic figures from The Path of the Rose.  They were created by Rachid Koraichi from Algeria.  I can imagine them breaking out of their glass case and running round the museum at night when nobody is around.

Algerian smoke

A tobacco pipe

Momos

I visited this restaurant several years ago before I really knew London and have been trying to remember where it was since then.

I just walked past Momo's last week and recognised it in a flash.  It's a brilliant North African restaurant run by Mourad Mazouz from Algeria.

Photos next time in that area otherwise google Momo's restaurant London to see how gorgeous it looks!