A Walk on Part: Arts Theatre, WC2

Very enjoyable adaptation of ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin's diaries of the New Labour era. The actor playing Mullin manages to keep the pace going throughout and the supporting actors can somehow capture the array of other MP's who make an appearance.

What was the feeling I left the theatre with? That Tony Blair, who let's be honest none of us ever trusted, was an outstanding politician with the gift of being able to communicate and connect with people on a personal basis and on the big stage. He also had the advantage that no Labour leader has ever had before of a huge majority in parliament... and what did he do? He blew it by being too conservative, and more tragically, by getting into bed with the most right wing president in America's history! And after taking us into a disasterous war that costs hundreds of thousands of lives on the back of dodgy evidence that had been 'sexed up' we now read in the Financial Times weekend magazine that he feels it is time for him to return for a big new role. Tony, do you honestly think so? At least it makes you appreciate what Harold Wilson achieved in the 1960's by managing to keep the UK out of Vietnam, even though, no doubt, he was under huge pressure to join in a 'coalition of the willing' or whatever stupid phrase they would've come up with, especially as the UK at the time still owed the USA a huge debt from WWII. Blair didn't even have that as an excuse.

Attila the Stockbroker at What's Cookin'

Birkbeck Tavern, Leyton, E10

With Michael Gove threatening to bring back O levels and then seeing that poet/musician Attila the Stockbroker (who’s 1^st album I bought many years ago) was due to play just down the road from me it felt like back to the 1980’s. I was hoping to hear ‘Russian’s in the DHSS’, Attila’s ode to cold war paranoia in order to take me back to my days in the ‘department’. A long time ago, since when the Russian’s who were our enemies, have become our friends and are now back to, I’m not sure, wariness on both sides I think – an Orwellian shifting of alliances. It turns out however that worringly it’s me and the odious Gove who have nostalgia in common, Attila on the other hand is always moving on, tackling the latest outrage such as 'Bye Bye Banker' about the recent financial scandals . His poems are still angry, political and above all humorous, the subjects are often personal, for example moving poems about his mother’s dementia and subsequent death and then moving onto his aunt coming to visit his mother, ‘Poison Pensioner ‘ which magnificently deals with the difficulty of dealing with a relative whose views he finds abhorrent and then a poem about his relationship with his stepfather who he came to like and respect after many years during his mother’s illness. I also particularly liked Comandante Joe, his ode to Joe Strummer, someone Attila never met but a lovely tribute to someone many of us still revere. Attila’s out on a nationwide tour soon, I recommend you catch him if you can.

http://www.attilathestockbroker.com/

The Dictator - Sacha Baron Cohen

‘The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.’ The film raises some laughs, often in spite of yourself but the only really bit of decent satire was when he (The Dictator) lists the advantages of America becoming a dictatorship – tortured foreign suspects, fixed elections, 1% of the population own virtually all the wealth of the country etc … all of which has already happened of course.

Bauhaus:art as life - Barbican

Following the route around this exhibition of the modernist design school I passed some Bauhaus furniture and overheard a eight or nine year old say the immortal line to his parents 'it's just like IKEA'. His well-spoken and obviously proud Father explained why this may be so and congratulated him on a good observation. I know what the boy meant and I think that's why this exhibition didn't grab me in the way some previous Bauhaus related exhibitions have such as the Albers/Moholy-Nagy and Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde at Tate Modern. The Bauhaus is now another part of our modern, consumerist world with the obligatory shop with buying opportunities.

Afterwards I treated myself to a coffee from Costa, the hugely profitable coffee wing of Whitbread which has a concession at the Barbican (£2.15 for a small latte although you mustn't actally call it 'sml' of course). Sitting outside in the sun the Barbican is undeniably beautiful, the flats with flowers drapped over their balconies look like a modern day Hanging Gardens of Babylon, modernist social housing from the sixties/seventies that actually work. Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, would've been proud although unfortunately, because of its success the Barbican is now out of the reach of anyone on an ordinary wage of course.

Pharos Arts Foundation

International Chamber Music Festival
Friday 25 May / Royal Manor House, Kouklia / 8:30pmWolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Flute Quartet No.3 in C, K.285b (1778)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 –1847)
Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 (1839) arrangement for flute
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)
Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 (1861)
We were fortunate enough to be in Cyprus for the second year in a row during the Pharos Arts Foundation's annual international chamber music festival. This acclaimed festival brings together world class musicians for a range of truly luscious chamber music concerts in amazingly atmospheric venues, including The Royal Manor House at Kouklia, a medieval monument on the site of Aphrodite's Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site dating back over 3,500 years. Other venues include the open air at The Olive Grove at Delikipos, and the Shoe Factory in the heart of old Nicosia.

After a lovely meal in the village of Kouklia, we walked up in the golden evening light through the ruins of Aphrodite's Temple, with a view to the sea to the right. The opening piece, Mozart's flute quartet no 3 reflected the usual genius of Mozart, despite the fact that apparently he wasn't overly enamoured of the flute as an instrument! As the music progressed through the evening it also progressed through history: it was noticeable how much more romantic the pieces became in the 19th century, and this was wonderfully reflected in the sheer passion with which these wonderful musicians played. Interestingly they included Levon Chilingirian, one of the founders of the Chilingirian Quartet and a son of Cyprus through Armenian parentage.

The interval drinks were served in the courtyard of the Manor House, atmospherically lit and dominated by a magnificent tree in the centre. The event had the peculiar intimacy of Cyprus cultural events of old, where many in the audience knew each other, well, a little, or even just by sight.

The music-making was of the highest standard, and with the musicians milling about in the courtyard too, it was particularly interesting to see pianist Ashley Wass having a last quiet look at the Brahms score under the tree in the gloaming, minutes before he was due to play it. And play it he did, with depth and agility matched by the four string players.

A magical evening thanks to the Pharos Arts Foundation, which punches well above its weight in the world of the arts. We are coveting a visit to the Olive Grove at Delikipos! and wondering about the extent to which the Pharos schedule of events will play a part in the timing of our future visits to Cyprus...

For more like this, see: http://www.thepharostrust.org/about.htm. And for Pharos in the BBC Music Magazine's Festival Guide see the very end of: http://www.classical-music.com/festival-guide-2012#international_pharos_chamber_music_festival

Musicians:
Mozart: Emmanuel Pahud / flute, Levon Chilingirian / violin, Philip Dukes / viola, Tim Park / cello
Mendelssohn: Emmanuel Pahud / flute, Ashley Wass / piano, Alexander Chaushian / cello
Brahms: Ashley Wass / piano, Levon Chilingirian / violin, Maya Avramovic / violin, Philip Dukes / viola, Tim Park / cello

Jeff Cox - What's going on?

The Stone Space, Leytonstone, E11

A most enjoyable exhibition of Jeff Cox's small abstract/figurative paintings in an intimate Leytonstone gallery.

http://thestonespace.wordpress.com/

Ray Bradbury 1919-2012

Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 45, has died aged 91. Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favourite science fiction books (and a very good film) about a society where firemen don't put out fires, they start them in order to burn books.

Damien Hirst - Tate Modern

With a Damian Hirst exhibition you obviously go with pre-conceived notions, it's easy to jump on the conservative bandwagon and dismiss him but his work is interesting and profound, all about life & death and beauty, often represented by butterflies & ugliness, represented by cigarette butts. His most iconic work is probably the shark, ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’ although I prefer Pharmacy which reminds me of a Donald Judd minimalist piece. It is especially effective here as you enter it from a room kept humid to support butterflies flying around living out their life, you then progress from the heat of the butterfly room to the cool of Pharmacy, cool in both senses of the word.
  
'A Thousand Years' must also be mentioned. Within a glass box a life cycle is played out. Maggots hatch, develop into flies, then feed on a severed cow's head while other flies fly around and either meet their end in an insect-o-cutor or survive to continue the cycle. It's the artist playing God and it is amazing, horrific but amazing. The randomness of life and death, it seems so unfair, but that is how life and death works I suppose.

There's always going to be bits you don’t like as well. His spin paintings don’t do much for me and I didn’t bother with the diamond encrusted skull as there was a big queque and it's not my favourite. Without the artist the diamonds are still worth enough for an ordinary person to retire on whereas with the shark for example there is no value without Hirst’s creative flair and ideas.

Bram Bogart 1921-2012

The Dutch-born Belgian (via Paris) abstract artist Bram Bogart has died aged 90. Bogart pioneered a form of abstraction that quite literally stood out. His thick gestural application of paint produced works that are more sculptural than anything easily recognisable as painting prompting one critic to describe them as 'canvases that were both sensuous and with the quality of rock faces' while also being infused with colour, light and optimism.

Leytonstone post box given silver makeover

A traditional red post box in Leytonstone has been completely spraypainted silver in an act of wanton vandalism that should be condemned by all right thinking people. Mind you as an onlooker observed, 'it's absolutely superb...everyone has stopped to take a picture of it and it's putting a smile on their faces.'

Marley; dir.Kevin Macdonald

My favourite Bob Marley joke is either:

Q: How does Bob Marley like his doughnuts?
A: Wi' jam in!
or
Q: What did Bob Marley say when his wife left him and took the TV?
A: No Woman No Sky.

My favourite song is definately Redemption Song...or possibly Three Little Birds.
Anyway I digress, as someone who likes Bob Marley rather than loves him I was expecting to enjoy this documentary but not sure how much. It's certainly long at about two and a half hours and its not a hagiography, Marley's many girlfriends are featured along with his wife. There is much interesting footage, including the (violent) Jamaican election of 1976 and a Marley concert to celebrate Zimbabwe's independance in 1980. There are also interviews with Bunny Wailer and Lee 'scratch' Perry who are both always good value but its the music of the third world's first superstar that shines through.

Georgina Hunt 1922-2012

The abstract artist Georgina Hunt has died at the age of 89. She used 6ft canvases, producing work of subtly varied colours. The critic William Packer described them as "rich in the mysteries of space and light" and Guy Brett, in his introduction to the catalogue for Hunt's big show at Camden Arts Centre, north London, in 1982, referred to "their stilling of visual tensions and associational imagery in a luminous presence of colour".

Georgina Hunt has a retrospective showing at The Cello Factory, 33-34 Cornwall Road, Waterloo, London SE1 8TJ from 16 - 20 June 2012.

http://www.georginahunt.co.uk/

Palestine Film Festival

My Father from Haifa; dir. Omar Sharqawi

My Father From Haifa tells the very personal story of Danish Palestinian director, Omar Shargawi’s bid to persuade his father Munir to embark on an emotionally fraught journey back to Haifa, with the aim of finding his childhood home.

Munir Shargawi says his entire life was shaped by one event - his family's forced evacuation from Palestine in 1948, when he was a boy of eight. He then wandered the world before ending up in Denmark, where he married and raised a family.

As much a personal as a political exposition, the documentry opens an intimate window on a father and son vying bitterly for control over memories of their family history, yet ultimately growing closer mentally and emotionally as they confront that past together.

Palestine Film Festival

Eid and My Land

“Eid” is a delightful short film about a young man (called Eid) who lives in a small village in the West Bank.  He combs the land and finds scrap materials which he uses to sculpt miniature models of the vehicles of the occupation.  The film shows how Eid strives to cope with the occupation and the hardships that come from this by channelling his energy into creating art.  It is an incredible example of how an ugly and tragic situation can be turned into something beautiful through the positive outlook of one individual.

“My Land” is a bold documentary style film which explores the attitudes of mainly young inhabitants from different parts of Israel towards the Palestinians that used to live in the houses and land which they now occupy.  The director records a series of moving testimonials by Palestinians now living in refugee camps around the region.  These refugees talk about a range of historical, political and social aspects of their past and present lives showing how they went from being happy, content and living normal and productive lives to having virtually no prospects at all in their current situations.

In the film he interviews the Israelis about their lives and their love of the land before showing them the Palestinian testimonials he recorded.  It was very interesting to see emotions ranging from those who were obviously affected by guilt and discomfort to others who were apparently not affected at all!  Another aspect of the film showed that some of these Israelis had not previously been aware that Palestinians had been forced out of their homes through fear of being killed and had thought that they had moved on through choice. An excellent film which unfortunately demonstrated the impossibility of finding a mutual solution to the Palestine/Israel conflict.

Duke of Uke end of term concert, Bedroom Bar, Rivington St, London EC1

The Duke of Uke is the place to buy a ukelele in London, or learn how to play it. Recently they had an end-of-term evening which enabled all the classes to have a public performance of the pieces they had been learning. It was a joyous occasion, with the classes giving their all, and the assembled friends and relatives encouraging them vociferously. It is surprising how good a class of people who have only had 10 lessons can sound, even if individually many of them wouldn't be able to perform a convincing solo. The lion's share of the performing time was taken by the most advanced class.

All the pieces involved a combination of ukelele and singing, and it was interesting to see the different approaches. One of the classes of complete beginners (doing a a mash-up of 2 songs called Crazy, one by Gnarls Barkley and one by the better-known Patsy Cline) was accompanied by the teacher and a classmate, while another class concentrated on their playing and had a group of singers accompanying them, a group of teachers, friends and players from other classes. Many of the other pieces, by the more advanced classes, took the latter approach, and while it made for a good performance, especially with one particularly fine solo singer, they were rather upstaging the ukelele players sometimes.

The venue was the Bedroom Bar in Rivington St in Shoreditch. It had a look I associate with Shoreditch, a stripped-down look with lots of old and reused materials - very good. No decent beer on hand-pumps unfortunately, but at least they had Belgian beer in bottles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxq-sFCBMsg
 

PALESTINE FILM FESTIVAL

SOAS, Khalili Lecture Theatre

PALESTINIAN REFUGEES AFTER THE IRAQ WAR: SCREEN TALK
Palestine in the South | Ana Maria Hurtado | 52' | 2011 UK Premiere
+
Displaced Lives | João Marcelo Gomes | 14' | 2010
+
Talk by Abbas Shiblak on the impact of the Iraq war on Palestinian refugees

These were a pair of fascinating films about the recent migrations of Palestinians to Chile, echoing earlier migrations from Palestine during the British colonial era. It appears that a whole Palestinian community exists in Chile, which continues to identify itself as Palestinian and which has known family histories dating back up to 100 years. Imagine my surprise to see flashed up on screen a group photo of migrants to Chile from Beit Jala, a small village on the outskirts of Jerusalem in which my last known relatives in Palestine lived and died, and where my father and mother went regularly as children. Hurtado's film traced the recent migration of Palestinian refugees from Iraq, who suffered terribly from recrimination and reprisals following the fall of Saddam Hussein and fled to camps in the desert, to Chile. This was as part of the UN arranged refugee programme allowing tiny numbers of Palestinians from Iraq to travel to often far-flung destinations to try and make new lives for themselves yet again. It raised a number of issues about integration and the desperate attempt to preserve identity and culture. The main protagonist, a baker, strove hard to earn a living for his growing family, became more politically active and potentially reactionary, and moved me tremendously when describing how no opportunity to see his father before he died had arisen.

But it was perhaps Gomes' shorter film that contained the most memorable moment, describing how recent Palestinian refugees in Chile only had identity cards which did not allow them to return, with the consequence that they could not travel out of Chile to see their families anywhere else in the world. The utility of skype takes on a new meaning in such circumstances. As Shiblak suggested after the films, the securing of a passport is itself an achievement for Palestinians, who just want to live normal lives like other people. Shiblak was knowledgeable and informative on refugee matters, but the questions he faced were extraordinary in their ignorance, dullardliness and insensitivity. Note to self: avoid staying on for audience questions in future!

Palestine Film Festival 2012

British Colonial Film in Palastine: 1917 TO 1947 - Barbican

Britain’s colonial rule in Palestine was closely recorded on film. This selection from the imperial archives included a number of silent home movies by amateur film makers, usually soldiers and Portrait of Palestine, a film made by the Colonial Office in 1947 which had the aim of giving a positive spin to Britain's chaotic withdrawal from Palestine. This was followed by a very interesting commentry by Francis Gooding of the Colonial Film project who gave the story behind the film and the many political decisions made on the wording of the commentry.

Government Art Collection: 12 From No 10 selected by Downing Street Staff

Whitechapel Gallery
The forth in a series of five exhibitions of the GAC at Whitechapel and the first chosen by 'ordinary people', in this case staff at 10 Downing Street. Each previous show was chosen by the 'great and the good' but unfortunately this one suffers in comparison and is just a little bit dull. It lacks the curatical flair of that selected by the artist Cornelia Parker or the interesting comparison of the selections of MP's to your prior assumptions of them.

To be fair there are some interesting pictures that caught my eye, I especially liked these photos by Seamus Nicolson which show ordinary, everyday situations of urban life. By the use of the darkness of the night and the artificial light of the shops they produce a beauty that you wouldn't expect.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

The latest film by Aardman Animation (Wrong Trousers, Chicken Run) is a very funny tale of an inept pirate captain, Pirate Captain, and his crew and their efforts to win the pirate of the year award. A very inventive, intelligent film with plenty of jokes for the adults to enjoy as well as the kids.

Fanny Craddock

Walking through Leytonstone, East London today my eye was caught by this plaque. David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks - you can keep your Chipping Norton set Leytonstone was the birthplace of the great Fanny, how did I never know this before? I always thought the song sung by West Ham fans 'oh East London, is wonderful, it's full of tits, fanny and West Ham' referred to a part of a women's anatomy but maybe not.

Anthony Caro - Jubilee Park, Canary Wharf

An exhibition focusing on Caro's steel sculptures from 1973 to 2010. Steel being probably my favourite material for sculpture I enjoyed it immensely. I read that Caro doesn't like his sculpture being displayed outside which is possibly understandable, given its industrial look perhaps he feels it is best in a factory type setting, but I thought it went rather well in the landscaped stone and grass of Jubilee Park.


A word of advice though, try and avoid going at lunchtime on a sunny day if you can. I made that mistake and it was hard to see some of the sculptures properly as the park was so crowded. A return visit on a rainy day allowed much easier, albeit wet, viewing.

David Hockney, A Bigger Picture, Royal Academy Jan - Apr 2012‏

This is not hot off the press, since the exhibition has already closed, but we just managed to squeeze under the wire at the Royal Academy. The exhibition was truly wonderful and very inspiring. I have never been a particularly big fan of David Hockney, though to be fair I haven't seen a lot, I just associate him with boys diving into swimming pools in California. However in the last few years he has spent a lot more time in Britain and rediscovered his home county of Yorkshire, and the association has been very fruitful. Many trips over the same ground from his mother's house in East Yorkshire to visit a sick friend inspired him to paint views of the Yorkshire Wolds, and he has done what seems to be the best representation of British countryside since ... well, possibly ever. There were many paintings in a very naturalistic style which are a breathtaking reminder of just how beautiful the British countryside often is, and staggering by their sheer number, hung much more closely together than the Royal Academy normally would do (apart from the summer exhibition), yet somehow it works. He had several very large scale collections of similar views done in different seasons, which adds a lot to the appreciation.

As well as more naturalistic styles, he brought in several other ways of working, e.g. many paintings of certain dead trees which he was fascinated with, or lanes in all weathers. Although many of the paintings were in relatively realistic colours, he adds dimensions by using some more vibrant artificial-looking colours, and some works were completley done with imaginary colours, making a very striking effect. Echoing some older works which used collages of overlapping and uneven photographs to make a cubist look, he had several large works done in panels which don't quite join up, adding a frisson of cubism to an otherwise relatively natural-looking set of works.

Extending the panel/cubist theme further, he and an assistant produced some video works in panels, made by driving the same route many times over with multiple cameras in complementary positions, sometimes overlapping, sometimes at slightly different angles, providing fascinating effects which make you wonder why it hasn't been thought of before (as far I know).

He also did an homage to the French painter Claude Lorrain, recreating and reinterpreting his Sermon on the Mount painting many times over in different ways. It didn't seem altogether successful to me, but it was certainly an interesting idea.

The largest room was given over to a huge collection of works which he apparently produced specifically for the exhibition and that room. I don't know what will happen to them afterwards (there certainly aren't many living rooms big enough to take it!), as he produced a monumentally large painted work at one end of the room, and then 51 works printed from ipad drawings. I had no idea that an ipad could be used in this way, but he has explored and mastered it and produced a great variety of wonderful effects, some surprisingly natural-looking, though always with some give-away air brush look to them, but nevertheless very good works, and surprisingly they don't look pixellated, considering they have been enlarged from a relatively tiny drawing pad to full-size paintings. Amazing.

He said in some exhibition notes that anyone could take the idea of painting the same view in different seasons, for instance in their own gardens, and he makes it look easy. However it only took a few minutes with a sketch book to remember that it certainly isn't!

An old master and a living artist at the same time, it is amazing to be at what seems to me to be the peak of his powers, still inventing new techniques, so late in life (born 1937). It's a good thing there isn't a mandatory retirement age for artists!

Absent Friends - Harold Pinter Theatre

Revival of the 1974 Alan Ayckbourn comedy in the Abigail's Party mould. It is set at a tea party that everyone is dreading as it is for Colin, an old friend whose girlfriend recently drowned, which leads to some amusing scenes of social embarraesement.

The  retro Seventies set added to what was an enjoyable couple of hours with its spider plants, sunburst clock and naff fashions.

Gillian Wearing - Whitechapel Gallery

A survey of Wearing's art to date featuring films and photographs. Some of the films are moving and affecting although my preference is for her iconic 1992 series, 'Signs that say what you want them to say, and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say' where strangers are offered paper and pen to communicate their message.

Leytonstone gallery to showcase Palestinian art

A Leytonstone gallery is to launch a new exhibition next week showcasing the work of five Palestinian artists. 'Defiance' is being held at The Stone Space, in Church Lane, from Thursday April 19 until Sunday May 6.

Organisers say the show, put together in conjunction with the Arts Canteen group, illustrates the determination of the Gaza-based painters to both overcome and be inspired by the difficult conditions in which they live.
Entry is free.

Visit www.thestonespace.com for more information.

John Golding 1929 - 2012

John Golding, who has died at the age of 82, was an art historian and abstract artist. He books included  Cubism, A History and an Analysis, 1907-1914 and Paths to the Absolute which argued that the best abstract art was not simply decorative but was "heavily imbued with meaning and with content", which he illustrated with studies of seven abstract artists, beginning with the early 20th-century Europeans Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky and ending with the post-second-world-war Americans Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still.

As well as teaching and writing on art Golding was also a fine artist in his own right interested in the exploration of colour and light.

Luke Jerram, Aeolus - Canada Square Park, Canary Wharf

Aeolus is an acoustic and optical pavilion designed to resonate and sing in the wind with no eletrical power or amplification - a giant Aeolian harp. Through vibrations in harp strings attached to some of the tubes the artwork really does sing in the wind. The tubes also hum at a series of low frequencies.

Apparently Aeolus was inspired by a trip Jerram made to Iran where a well-digger spoke of the wells singing in the wind.

http://www.lukejerram.com/aeolus

Mondrian/Nicholson: In Parallel - The Courtauld Gallery

An exhibition which explores the friendship and creative relationship between Mondrian and Ben Nicholson and their influence upon each other. The exhibition features work from the early 1930’s through 1938 when Mondrian moved to England to escape the growing Nazi threat on the continent and into the 1940’s. Mondrian moved to Hampstead at Nicholson’s suggestion and they had studio’s next to each other. In 1940 Nicholson moved to St Ives with Barbara Hepworth to escape the Blitz but Mondrian felt he needed an urban environment and moved to New York where he died in 1944.

The period includes Mondrian’s best known works the exhibition would be well worth visiting for his worrks on their own but Nicholson, at a time when abstract art was looked down upon in the UK, also contributes exceptional work which does not look out of place alongside the Dutchman. There are differences of course, Mondrian’s famous black lines ensure a flat work without depth, the colours reducing on his canvas’ throughout the period as he looks for balance in the works. Nicholson on the other hand often creates drama by using dull colours around a bright centre.

Alighiero Boetti - Tate Modern

Boetti was an Italian artist who spent 1970’s in Afganistan until forced to leave when the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, he opened an hotel in Kabul as an art project. His outstanding works, which take up 2 rooms of this exhibition alone, are a series of embroideries, some very large, of maps of the world with the countries represented by their flag. He did these from the middle of the Cold War till the early 1990’s tracking the changing geopolitical situation. He used helpers with the stitching, women in Afganistan and then Pakistan. One map features a bright pink sea which came about because the stitchers, living in a land-locked country, did not recognise the ocean on the map. Therefore they used the colour which was in plentiful supply, which happened to be pink. Apparently Boetti loved the random nature of this solution and it certainly makes for a striking image.

Sherry and Tapas Tasting

West London Wine School
28 February 2012

As we have rather a liking for sherry (!) and with increasing interest in what used to be a deeply unfashionable drink, we trotted off to a sherry and tapas tasting at the West London Wine School.  The trip was a Christmas present (alongside a bottle or two of sherry!) and we weren't disappointed.  Rather oddly the venue was a Big Yellow Storage unit in west London but all was explained when we arrived (with slightly raised eyebrows - in over 20 years in London, we hadn't even heard of the train stop - Imperial Wharf):  we were ushered into a specialist wine storage unit with a long table delightfully laid with seven (yes, seven!) glasses each and platefuls of rather fine-looking nibbles.    We were welcomed by proprietor Jimmy Smith and not long afterward the evening started in earnest, with a very pleasing Moscatel (Lustau Moscatel de Chiopina) from Jerez, very refreshing indeed alongside fresh fruit salad.  Smith gave an interesting and entertaining talk with slides as we worked our way through six other tastings, each accompanying food chosen to complement and be complemented by the sherry.  It was fascinating to realise that the sherry production process enables such a wide range of sherries to be produced, from utterly gloopy, syrupy sweet wines made from Pedro Ximenez grapes and containing 370g of sugar per litre (yes, 370!  It went beautifully poured over vanilla ice cream!), to bone dry Manzanilla and Fino styles, which went down well with savoury treats such as olives and walnuts.  It was also very interesting to discover that the blending process means that every bottle of sherry is a blend of every year's sherry produced in that solera, right back to the very first year - which in some cases is about 200 years!  Yes, the proportion of the oldest years in each bottle is vanishingly small but it's certainly more than homeopathic (!) and the idea of age and continuity is very appealing.

My favourites were a 12 year old Amontillado (Lustau) inhaled with manchego cheese, honey, bread and hazelnut oil, and a 30 year old Palo Cortado (Gonzales Byass, Jerez) which slipped down very nicely with gingerbread.  They were both wonderfully smooth and rich, with a little sweetness but certainly not too much (although interestingly, their tawny golden colour made them "look sweet" if you get my drift).  The 30 year old Oloroso Dulce that accompanied a slab of stilton and fruit cake was very fine too. 

Spitoons were provided but neither we nor any of the other guests used them, nor were we encouraged to.  Seven largish glasses of sherry later we rolled home rather merrily.  A very fine evening strongly recommended.

SB

Cabaret, dir Bob Fosse

Having read The Berlin Diaries by Christopher Isherwood (reviewed on this site last year) I felt the need to watch Cabaret which somehow I've never seen before. Very entertaining of course, about bohemian Berlin in the last days of the Weimar Republic but also very interesting in the way the rise of the Nazis is protrayed. This is an understated background to the film throughout but also the (unfortunately true) impression that they enjoyed wide popularity with 'ordinary' Germans is not ignored or denied, not always the case. This support is powerfully brought home when the one song to be sung outside the cabaret club (in a beer garden), Tomorrow Belongs to Me, is revealed to be being sung by a Hitler Youth member and one by one everyone in the garden gets up to join in singing and saluting. The only person not to join in is an older man, perhaps having fought in the First World War he knows what's coming.

Banff Mountain Film Festival UK Tour

Union Chapel
London
24 February 2012

The UK tour of the Banff Mountain Film Festival is a selection of short films taken from the main Banff Film Festival which runs in Canada in November each year, bringing together a range of outdoor and mountain culture films. 

The films selected for the UK tour covered a range of sports, including free skiing in Canada, kayaking (with truly dire results) in crocodile infested waters in central Africa, bouldering (aged 9) in the US, mountaineering in Pakistan (complete with frozen beards and a bit of sobbing), cycling (into thin air off tall platforms, sort of like a cartoon), and perhaps most extraordinary, highlining (naked).  As you can imagine none of these are activities that I would ever under any circumstances contemplate, and I sat there in a sort of horrified fascination as a diverse group of extremely enthusiastic but possibly unhinged people did dangerous and frequently pointless things with great passion and commitment, dying in the process in one case.    The films brought to life another world, a world of which I really have no experience, and as such, they were interesting and intriguing.  But made as they were (on the whole, anyway) by the sporting protagonists themselves, they had the feel of a long reel of holiday films - "this is me, in my backyard, performing an impossible feat, and here's me performing another impossible feat, and oh yes, this is me, doing something spectacularly impossible".  You get the gist.

I'm glad I went as it did make me see how the other half (or rather, the other 1%) lives.  But I'm fairly sure that in any other walk of life, people with that sort of attitude might in fact be sectioned.  It's  a strange world...!

SB

The Dials at What's Cookin'

Birkbeck Tavern, 45 Langthorne Road, London, E11 4HL
http://www.whatscookin.co.uk/wchome.html

I had read that The Dials' sound is psychedelic country rock, influenced by The Byrds and Barrett era Pink Floyd. It all sounded very promising and they certainly lived up to expectations, at times on the more keyboardy numbers they also have that fairground sound of early Madness and Inspiral Carpets. If this all sounds a bit retro it is I guess, but they made a fantastic sound, a very enjoyable evening.

http://www.thedials.co.uk/home/

Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis - Leytonstone pop-up cinema

Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis was shown as for the monthly (February) offering by Leytonstone pop-up cinema. A very funny French film which explores the clichés of the ‘frozen’ north of the country and the characters who live there.

 

For those of you in the area Leytonstone pop-up cinema pops up again next Weds 7^th March with what looks like another cracker, Memories of Underdevelopment, a Cuban film from 1968.

 

http://www.leytonstonefilmclub.com/

No Such Thing as Society: A History of Britain in the 1980s - Andy McSmith

A very readable account of the decade dominated by Margaret Thatcher and her free market/privitisation agenda which, by the end of it, capitalism had emerged triumphant from its ideological battle with socialism and with it vast differences between rich and poor. New Labour picked up the free markeet baton and ran with it into the 21st century, the effects of which only became apparent with the crash of 2008.

The author worked on the Independant newspaper during the decade and the book is like a series of journalistic essays on aspects of 80s politics and culture from the miners' strike to Live Aid, the Falklands War to Diana and very enjoyable it is too, well written, clear and concise.

The Descendants: dir. Alexander Payne; Carnage: dir. Roman Polanski

In honour of Oscar's day I thought I'd briefly review a couple of films I've seen recently. The Descendants, starring George Clooney is up for a number of Oscars. Clooney plays a husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his life when his wife suffers a boating accident. A decent film but to be honest I didn't really see it as an Oscar contender.

I thought Carnage was the better film, it is very much like a play, all the action takes place in the living room of an apartment.  Two supposed liberal couples, whose son's have a fight at school, decide to react in a mature fashion and sort out the problem. However they gradually descend into argument as, first the couples start to fight, and then, as alliances shift and problems within the realtionships come out, squabbles break out between the couples which is all quite amusing. There is a nice ending as well as the adults fight the two boys, who have not been seen before, are shown together at school having obviously just sorted the problem out as children do.

As for the Oscars I think The Artist will become the first silent film to win since 1929. Personally I would go for Gary Oldman as best actor for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy although I suspect George Clooney will win and Meryl Streep best actress for The Iron Lady (which I would've included on the best movie shortlist but for some reason the Academy didn't ask me).

For what it's worth the six films I enjoyed most in the last year (my Oscar shortlist) were:

1. The Rum Diary
2. Midnight in Paris
3. Hugo
4. The Iron Lady
5. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Serralves Museum, Porto

Serralves Museum displays cutting-edge international contemporary art in a striking minimalist building, opened in 1999. There is no permanent collection on display, temporary exhibitions take up the entire space. At the moment there is a Thomas Struth photography exhibiton which was a bit of a shame as, much as I like his photographs, I saw many of them recently at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. 

We spent more time in the grounds which surround the museum and contain formal gardens and sculptures and also the Casa de Serralves, a lovely pink Art Deco house which is only let down by a complete lack of explanation of how the inside of the building would have looked in its heyday, some reproduction furniture or even a leaflet would've been good.

Travelling Light - Government Art Collection

Selected by Simon Schama; Whitechapel Gallery

The third in the series of works from the Government Art Collection. It perhaps doesn't have the curatical spark that Cornelia Parker brought to his selection but nevertheless there are some interesting exhibits, I particulary liked Map of an Englishman by Grayson Perry, Dartmoor Time by Richard Long and Allotments, Ely, Cambridgeshire by Mark Edwards, all shown below.

Cyprus protest

Not strictly cultural but as I was doing my daily sweep of the world press the following from the Cyprus Mail caught my eye which I have produced virtually verbatim below. The Cypriot capital, Nicosia, is the last remaining divided capital in the world I believe which has led to the protest described. The part which I really like though is the bit where it describes an argument between anarchist factions which is pure Monty Python; the hard left will never let us down it seems. But then there is the lovely end paragraph about free lectures. One solution - revolution! ... and free tango lessons.

Peace marchers call for removal of all troops

A SMALL but vocal group of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots marched through the streets of old Nicosia yesterday, calling for peace and a social revolution.

Around 100 people, members of the Occupy the Buffer Zone in Nicosia along with members of the public, marched along Ledra Street to Eleftheria Square and from there to the Paphos Gate, where their Turkish Cypriot counterparts were waiting on the Roccas bastion.

Popular chants included “only one solution, revolution”, “one Cyprus” and “armies out”.
“We want to live together,” was repeatedly chanted once the two set of marches met on either side of the barbed wire at Paphos Gate. 

Increased numbers of policemen were stationed both at the Ledra Street checkpoint and the Paphos Gate, while minor scuffles between policemen and the demonstrators occurred outside the Greek embassy.
The activists had marched there to emphasise their message that the Greek forces – as well as Turkish troops - had to leave the island.

The participants’ numbers were surprisingly high, considering the recent diminishing numbers of activists occupying the buffer zone.

The numbers of the Occupy movement were notably reduced last month after a dispute between factions over the theoretical merits of post-anarchism and classical anarchism resulted in the die-hard anarchists walking out.

Peaceful activists have been occupying the buffer zone on Ledras Street since mid- November and have been calling for the re-unification of the island.

Free lectures on anthropology, philosophy, languages and free tango lessons have been on offer by activists, whose non-violent nature has secured the tolerance of both the public and the UN.

Zarina Bhimji, Whitechapel Gallery

Zarina Bhimji was born in Mbarara, Uganda in 1963 to Indian parents, and moved to Britain in 1974, two years after the expulsion of Uganda’s Asian community in the Idi Amin era. She takes beautiful pictures, often of desolute and abandoned landscapes and buildings in India and East Africa. The exhibition also features her film Out of Blue from 2002 and the premiere of her latest film, Yellow Patch (2011), inspired by trade and migration across the Indian Ocean.

Yayoi Kusama - Tate Modern, London

One of the joy's of going to the Tate Modern is to watch middle class parents dragging their children round desparately trying to get the nippers into it, 'oh isn't this one colourful'. Another joy is to see the madness on display, the pure insane in the membrane inventiveness that sometimes you get with abstract art. It's easy to look at a picture of a thing, a portrait by an old master say and think 'very nice' but then what? you move on to the next one and so on without really thinking about it. Abstract art demands more, its a bit more difficult and some things can be very, shall we say, 'challenging' but if you make a connection it keeps dragging you back for another look.

Anyway I digress, as I was saying often the joy is to see the madness and inventiveness on display and this exhibition has both in abundance; not surprising for the former, and possibly the latter, as the Japenese artist has lived in a mental institution since 1977. She experienced hallucinations as a child which she describes in her striking paintings and installations of polka dots; dots everywhere, in the living room, on cats and horses and rivers, in a mirrored 'infinity room', the woman is positively dotty. Not surprising perhaps, she was also forced by her mother to spy on her father's infidelities at a young age, which has seemingly also left her with a fascination with phallic images and voyerism.

In New York in the 1960's she organised happenings where hippies found themselves by painting each other with polka dots (what else) and she also offered to sleep with Richard Nixon if he would pull out (as it were) of Vietnam. Unfortunately Tricky Dickie didn't take her up on her kind offer but full marks for trying.

An exhuberant exhibition full of variety and invention that should be seen if at all possible ...oh and don't she look like Jo Brand?

Snaresbrook Tube station cinema

I saw this on the Waltham Forest Guardian website:

What may be the first cinema in a tube station has been set up at Snaresbook.
Malcolm Parker, 57, set up a projector and started showing his collection of films of classic steam trains for morning commuters in a disused office on the westbound platform of Snaresbrook London Underground Station when he started working there last summer.
Now the little cinema, which is decorated with classic Art Deco railway posters, has proved so popular that Mr Parker has had to extend its opening hours so those making their way home after a hard day’s work can pop-in and enjoy the show.

Mr Parker said: “There is a room on the platform that was completely dull so I put some old posters up I decided to put it to some use.
“I don’t know of any other stations with cinemas.
“People very much like it. You have people getting off the train and saying ‘what is that?’ and being quite amazed. People have also come along specially to see it with their kids on the weekend.”
Mr Parker was the train guard on the last Epping-Ongar service before the stretch of line closed in the early 1990s and has rare self-shot footage of the old route as well as even older footage of Great Eastern Line steam trains. “Some of the films of the steam trains have proved especially popular with the older ladies,” said Mr Parker.
“I have always been on the railways all my life, and my family have since the 1840s. My great-grandfather drove the royal train for Edward VII. Now my son and daughter both work on the railways.
“I love the railways, the architecture, the locomotives, I even find satisfaction in well laid tracks.
“It is great to share my passion,” he said.

The Snakes; What's Cookin' Birkbeck Tavern, Leyton, E11

The Snakes are a bit rocky and a bit country, inspired by The Rolling Stones when they were in their country inspired period. This show was the last with drummer Dan who is apparently off to live in Copenhagen and get a proper job unfortunately and therefore became a celebration involving an extended & raucous encore. Great fun from a great band, get out and see them live if you can & buy their music - http://the-snakes.com/

Red Plenty - Francis Spufford

A wonderfully innovative historical novel that blends fact and fiction set in the 1950's & 60's when it seemed,  at first, that Soviet communism and its planned economy was about to overtake America and its capitalist economy and fulfil the workers dream of a fair and prosperous society.

Soviet planners, economists, physicists and mathematicians flourished in the thaw initiated by Khrushchev following Stalin's death. They persuaded the Soviet leadership that, using cybernetic principles and the newly developed computers, the centralised, planned Soviet economy could at last be made efficient. By 1980, Khrushchev claimed, the Soviet Union would overtake America; communism would have defeated capitalism. For a while, in the aftermath of Sputnik and Gagarin's space flight, it looked as if he might be just be right.

Red Plenty explores why things didn't work out like that.

The Artist; dir. Michel Hazanavicius

A film that charts a changing world in much the same way as Under The Greenwood Tree and Cider with Rosie did, this time about the coming of the talkies to replace silent movies rather than the replacement of people by machines or the coming of the motor car. It has had great reviews by the critics but as a silent film I was interested to see whether it could hold the ordinary punter's attention for an hour and a half. After all we're not used to sitting through silent films these days and at the end of the day they're not made anymore because, in a Darwinian sense they were out-competed by something better suited to survive. I was also interested to decide if it is an enjoyable rather than a 'great piece of art' beloved of the critics. It did not disappoint on either count, a thoroughly enjoyable film about Hollywood at the end of the 1920's at the end of the silent era.

Shame; dir.Steve McQueen

Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a sex addict but with a fairly well ordered life of internet porn and prostitutes, the only time he nearly has sex with someone who is interested in a relationship he doesn't manage to find wood (as Irving Welsh or the Inbetweeners would put it).

Then his sister turns up; the two of them have a strange relationship, there are obviously issues from the past. She has been a self abuser who is over familiar with him, wanting to cuddle up in bed and he over-reacts, violently pushing her away. When she has sex with his boss he can't stand it and goes out for a hard run, almost seeming to punish himself. It all leaves you wondering if he is in love with her but the film offers no answers.

There is no Hollywood ending where he has therapy and comes to terms with his past and ends up in a nice cosy relationship. He continues punishing himself, getting beaten up after goading a man about his girlfriend in a nightclub. The lack of a conventional narrative and answers to questions makes for an interesting piece of art but possibly not the most entertaining film you'll ever watch, the lack of a conventional storyline means it becomes a list of his sexual shenigans at times. An interesting film that you're pleased to have checked out rather than one you come out of having really enjoyed.

A Century of Olympic Posters - One Canada Sq, Canary Wharf, London

An excellent exhibition of Olympic posters organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum to mark the beginning of Olympic year in London. The posters from past years are very interesting, I especially liked one from the 1968 games in Mexico (below) which looks very retro now. The 1972 games in Munich had the aim of a union between sport and art and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has sought to return to this artistic tradition,commissioning twelve of the UK’s leading artists to create images to celebrate London hosting the 2012 Games. Posters by Bridget Riley, Howard Hodgkin, Martin Creed, Rachel Whiteread and Sarah Morris are reporduced below. 

The Iron Lady, dir. Phyllida Lloyd

I was a bit reticent about seeing The Iron Lady, worried that it would be an hagiography of Margaret Thatcher, something that would've been hard to stomach. The fact that Norman Tebbitt said he dislikes it was the first clue that this may be a film worth seeing and in fact it turned out to be a must see with superb performances by Meryl Streep as Thatcher and Jim Broadbent as her husband Dennis.

The film goes through her career becoming a female MP in a male world to the west's first woman Prime Minister and then her ousting from office (the scene at the Cabinet meeting when she tells Geoffrey Howe to go and pay 85% of his money in tax to THE FRENCH if he likes europe so much was an absolute joy). The events dipicted all seem a long time ago now but she divided opinions to such an extent that she still inspire's admiration or hatred depending on point of view. I'm sure I can't be the only one who had that the thought of 'if only he'd given her a lift home' when her friend Airey Neave was blown up by the Irish National Liberation Army car bomb as he left the House of Commons in 1979 (only weeks before she got elected and brought in the 'greed is good' free markets that have led us to the mess we're in now).

The really interesting part of the film is its treatment of her dementia, cutting from her present confused state, with Dennis appearing to her even though he died 8 years previously, back to her years in power. Even though she struggles to remember recent events and is often confused you can still see the old Thatcher coming through in her treatment of others. The film is essentially about the human aging process, the fight against the dieing of the light that no one can avoid in the end whoever you are.

Terence Conran – The Way We Live Now; Design Museum

An exhibition to celebrate the 80^th birthday of the founder of the Design Museum. It traces his career through his earliest work at college and Festival of Britain in 1951 to setting up Habitat. Conran was influenced by his mum who wanted to remove all the clutter from the house and this informed his belief in good, clean, simple design. If, as Bill Shankley said, simplicity is genius Terence Conran is a genius. He was certainly hugely influential in helping to introduce modern design to the UK.

 

 

This is Design - Design Museum

The Design Museum is based in a lovely building at Shad Thames, overlooking Tower Bridge, but it has limited space. This exhibition, which features highlights from the collection, is reasonably interesting, some iconic pieces including a newly acquired red telephone box designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott who designed Bankside power station, now Tate Modern, but it is still rather limited in terms of the breadth of the pieces on display. The museum is moving to new premises in 2014, the old Commonwealth Institute building, which will help as they will be able to display everything in their collection, alot of  which is in storage now.