Whole in the Wall

'Whole in the Wall' was an exhibition at the Ayyam Gallery in New Bond Street by Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar.

The exhibition was an observation on daily life in Palestine using the medium of concrete. The show included a long concrete wall separating the gallery entrance with the information desk.  A hole in this wall in the shape of Palestine allowed visitors to the gallery climb through the installation itself to continue their visit.

 The exhibition also featured videos of the artist chipping small pieces of concrete from the Israeli-Gaza barrier which he then used to create several sculptures of everyday objects.  These also featured in the gallery.

Lord of art

Goncalo Mabunda is an artist from Mozambique who creates art installations and sculptures out of decommissioned weapons, from AK47s to rocket launchers.

He is also part of an art collective who have had their work displayed in the British Museum (I have posted about that exhibition previously in my blog).

I was lucky enough to attend the opening night of the exhibition at the ever enjoyable Jack Bell Gallery.

Africa Centre big weekend

The Africa Centre has been in Covent Garden since the 1960s and,they recently had a big event in Covent Garden market showcasing talented, up and coming African musicians.

Grad

Grad is a new Russian art gallery that has opened in Fitzrovia, showing art from both Russia and the UK.

They had a very interesting recent exhibition about Russian-made tourist posters from the 1930s.  The posters were in glass frames so there is a bit of glare in my pictures but you still can get an idea of how the posters looked.

 A poster aimed at German tourists

 A proposed design that was never made into a poster at the time

Two poster emphasising Russia's cultural achievements

These posters were contrasted with how Russia was portrayed in internal propaganda.  The two styles of posters were very different.  In the external tourism posters the beauty of the landscape was emphasised and a romanticised vision of glamorous women and fast cars was shown.

Internal propaganda focused on spreading the communist message. Images of planes were used in a purely military sense.

An external Russian tourism poster, aimed at the French market, featuring a plane 

An internal poster featuring images of planes.

These two posters use images of planes.  In the first poster the viewer is positioned at the same height as the plane and is able to view the whole of Europe.  The internal propaganda poster show the plane above the people looking up at it, literally cutting them off from the skies.

A though-provoking exhibition.

Culture in Defiance - Continuing traditions of satire, art and the struggle for Freedom in Syria

There is currently a fantastic exhibition of 'art as cultural rebellion' from Syria being shown at Rich Mix on Bethnal Green Road until 23rd November 2013.

Key themes of the exhibition are nonviolent resistance and the power of culture.  As one of the artists states "You can actually deal with everything that is scary through laughter."

Some of the images in the exhibition were very scary and powerful.  Definitely worth checking out.

 Photos by Muzaffar Salman, a photojournalist who has worked for Reuters and the AP

 Hama 30 by Khalil Younes

Alshaab Alsori Aref Tarekh (The Syrian People know their way) - Anonymous Poster Collective of 15 Syrian artists and  activists.

By Yasmeen Fanari

By Khaled Barakeh

Light from the Middle East New Photography at the V and A

No photography was allowed in the Light from the Middle East exhibition unfortunately, but it was a great exhibition of the work by 30 artists from around the Middle East.

 

More information about the artists and the exhibition can be found on the V and A website: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-light-from-the-middle-east-new-photography/about-the-exhibition/

Dolls Never Die

Dolls Never Die was an exhibition last year at the October Gallery by Benin artist Gerard Quenum. The exhibition consisted of a series of sculptures made from recycled materials and dolls.

Pop Goes the World

My friend and I decided to run our very own Club Night

It's going to be a bit like Salla that I visited a couple of times and that has since closed down.

We're going to play some: kwaito, azonto, reggaeton, eurovision, Kpop, Greek and Turkish pop, chalga and much more!!

It's going to be in Firefly bar in St Paul's on Friday 9th August 2013. Come along and party around the world with us.

Viewpoints on Folklore

Viewpoints on Folklore is an exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Institute that runs until the end of August 2013.  It examines understanding of the term 'folklore' in the work of contemporary Austrian artists.

 

Daily Production 2009 by Sascha Reichstein

Medicine Mountain - Learn to Love in Seven Daysby kozek hoerlonkski and Sir Meisi

Unknown Heroine

Unknown Heroine was a the first UK solo exhibition by Croatian artist Sanja Iveković and it took place at the South London Gallery between December 2012 and February 2013.




The exhibition has the same name as one of the pieces of art that examined the story behind a street in Zagreb called Ulica Neznane Junakinje (Unknown Heroine Street). As a former geography student this appealed to me.

I also liked the photographs from the 1970s and the themes of women and consumer society.

This image was not at the exhibition but I really like it so I've included it anyway.

Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union

Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union is the name of an exhibition of Russian art the Saatchi Gallery.  Here were my favourite pieces from the exhibition:

 

Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Prints by Sergei Vasiliev

Balance of Probabilities by Yelena Popova

Sex in the City by Gosha Ostretsov

 Entry No Entry by Erik Bulatov

Procession Series by Francisco Infante

 Criminal Government by Gosha Ostretsov

 For the Poor Janitor by Dimitri Prigov

 Museum of Contemporary Russian Art by Leonid Sokov

by Alexander Kosolapov

Superobject -  Supercomfort for Superpeople by Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid

The World's First Pidgin Musical!

The 2012 African Film Festival in Rich Mix had an area where you could watch films for free.  A film had already started when I arrived so I sat down with the others to watch it.  The film was about the day in the life of two guys from Ghana and the whole film was made as a musical.   

You can check out the whole film on YouTube.  Here is the trailer.

World Press Photography 2012

The World Press Photography competition photos are displayed each year at the Southbank Centre. The photographs featuring this year focused on events that took place in 2011 with the tsunami in Japan, the conflict in Libya and protests in Egypt all featuring prominently.

 Japan after the Tsunami, photograph by Paolo Pellegrin from Italy

 Japan after the Tsunami, photograph by Koichiro Tezuka from Japan

Demonstrators kneeling for prayer near Tahir Square in Egypt, photograph by Jan Dago from Denmark

 Dakar Fashion Week, photograph by Vincent Boiset from France

Moscow, photograph by Alexander Gronsky from Russia

 Traditional dress worn by a tribal elder in Papua New Guinea, photograph by Brent Stirton

Ritual cleansing in Kazakhstan, photograph by Pavel Prokopchik from the Netherlands