Exhibitions – My London+

Africa Fashion at the V&A

I had an unexpected trip to London on the 10th December. A friend asked if I’d like to go to the Africa Fashion exhibition at the V&A with her, as the friend who originally was going with her was unwell.

The exhibition was colourful and interesting and spanned the mid-20th century to the present day through textiles, music, photography and video.

Kente cloth comes from Ghana

I found that prints could be political, but also tribal, as well as influenced by colonialism. There were prints here with Dutch influence. I am a member of a Christian organisation known as The Mother’s Union, founded in Winchester back in the 1876, but the organisation now has global outreach and members. The members in Africa soon began designing a ‘uniform’. Just have a look at this blog page and the photos to see what I mean. In the UK we don’t have this. The nearest we get is a scarf or t-shirt from the merchandising shop in London, or if a representative goes on a visit to Africa, they might be presented with a dress to bring home. At talks, a member will bring one along if she has one. Of course, the African congregations living in London really know how to dress up! I love the colourfulness of them. It means so much to them to wear these dresses.

That is a little aside, but the textiles on show, reminded me of this and the pride Africans have in their designs and wearing them.

The images I have chosen to show here are mainly my personal favourites. The one above has a lovely line to it, and I love the colours.

Designed for the LGTBQI+ community

I hope you enjoyed your whistle-stop tour of African textiles with me. As we were leaving the V&A there was this rather lovely exhibit (see below), The Christmas Tree by Korean, Miss Sohee. Read about it here.

Nest Monday will be Boxing Day, so I won’t be posting then. Instead, I shall try and post something festive on Christmas Eve. Whatever you are doing this Christmas, have a lovely time.

Day Trip to Winchester

I believe my heart belongs to this place. Winchester ticks all my boxes, so it was great to be back in this lovely city again. I had bought a ticket for two events. The first was Extraordinary Everyday: The Art and Design of Eric Ravilious, and the second was Lux Murualis, a light show at Winchester Cathedral. But first there was lunch at The Refectory, which is always a treat. Here I gatecrashed someone’s table as there were no free spaces. I ended up chatting to a man, who is training to be a Priest and was spending twelve weeks at the Cathedral. Isn’t it funny how some people you click with? We discussed everything under the sun in the hour and half we sat together.

Off to the exhibition (no photos allowed, but do look at this website to see the art of Eric Ravilious. A quick low-down. Eric grew up in Sussex, one of his art tutors was Paul Nash (another painter whose work I adore). They were both war artists and friends. Eric died while at war. His aircraft never returned. Just think what he could have achieved if he had survived? Eric was a painter, engraver, illustrator and designer. His range is incredible. I spent an hour studying his painting closely, looking at his brushstrokes, trying to see how he achieved the effect. His designs for plates and bowls are quite fun and I would dearly love to own one of his works.

Outside The Arc, home of the Eric Ravilious exhibition

I can remember sitting on a hillside with a friend just outside Rottingdean in Sussex, on a walk Eric Ravilious might have taken, and looking at the patchwork fields. I said to my friend, ‘This looks just like an Eric Ravilious painting.’ And it really was. I could see his work all around me.

After the exhibition I went for a wander through the city and down to the Deanery Secondhand Bookshop. Unfortunately. it was closed. So I ended up in Waterstones bookshop instead (as you do!).

More wandering took me back up through the City to The Great Hall, which was closed the last time I was there. There were parts of it I couldn’t remember, and through talking to the lady in the gift shop, I realised it was pre-2017 when I was last in there! This is a lovely place and is all that remains above ground of Winchester Castle. The hall has been used for all sorts of things, including the assize courts, county offices and more recently for filming such things at The Crown and Wolf Hall. The myth of Arthur and the Round Table dominates here, and the table is around eight hundred years old! Built in 1222 and 1235 it is part of the castle started by William the Conqueror. Outside there is Queen Eleanor’s Garden, a peaceful place to sit. The long gallery holds more information about the hall and castle through the ages and leads to the gift shop.

I can see the old castle passageways outside. Part of this is open again now, though you can only go so far before there are gates looking into a very dark underworld! Creepy.

By now, it was time for afternoon tea. I had a leisurely break over a toasted teacake and tea and caught up with some reading. It was too early to go to the Cathedral for the light show, but I decide to go for a quick walk down to the River Itchen, and ended up walking to where the Water Meadows begin. By then it was 5.45pm and hardly anyone was around. Standing there by the river, the blackbirds were singing their hearts out as dusk began to fall. It was magical. Enjoy my little video.

I arrived at the Cathedral and joined the queue for the light show. Looking at the windows, I could already see lights flickering inside. Excitement was building. Finally, I was in. Wow! Every part of the cathedral had moving projections and music. I ended up taking lots of photos and videos. It was amazing. The theme was science, so there were projections of skeletons, muscles, double helix, faces of scientists through the ages flashing up. The main part of the cathedral (nave) was quite stunning. I sat down and took in the whole range of images. I was there about an hour before I reluctantly left and wound my way to the station for the train home.

Just one video I took during this amazing evening.

The light show was only on for a week, so it is over now. I know a few cathedrals have done similar things, and this was really wonderful. It was a perfect day. Even the weather was good. I don’t think it will be long before I am back in Winchester again.

Outside the Cathedral while inside it’s all still going on!

Tate Britain Exhibitions and autumn has arrived

Above is a photo of my favourite painting by Paula Rego. It is a rare happy painting, because the artist’s work is usually quite troubling, quite disturbing. Her art depicts war, the position of women in society, abortion, FGM, people trafficking and more. Born in Portugal during an oppressive regime, her work is her way of expressing herself about those times. Later, she moved to London and was a student at the Slade School of Fine Art.

The dark content and often wildly abstract paintings don’t inspire me to take many photos and these slightly more acceptable views here are the only ones I took. Paula Rego plays on the more disturbing aspect of children’s fairy stories and folk tales. Her work spans very different artist medium from oil, watercolour and ink, painting on aluminum, to collage and etchings. Her sketch books are stunning to view.

Her life is an interesting and often sad one, and I find learning the background to an artist’s life helps me understand their work. It certainly helped here. I had recently watched a TV programme about her life which brought things into perspective.

There are eleven rooms in this latest exhibition, and is the first time I have seen her work in person. I studied a couple of her paintings for art history (The Dance was one of them), so I was thrilled to finally see the scale of her work.

I do wonder how she can work so much on dark subjects. I would find that very difficult. It can be the stuff of nightmares, for sure. They are works you don’t forget when you leave the gallery. The exhibition finishes in a couple of weeks time, should you want to see it for yourself.

Adjacent to Paula Rego’s exhibition was Heather Phillipson’s installations. I found them weirdly compelling. I wonder what you think of these photos! Sound effects accompany the exhibition, giving it an eerie atmosphere.

Heather Phillipson – multiple working TV screens

Autumn is arriving now, and on Saturday I woke to fog. I was out early and spotted the brilliant colours and spiders’ webs. I always have my mobile handy for taking photos, and I actually enjoy fog for picture taking – lots of liquid drops on leaves and so on.

Have a good week everyone.

With autumn comes fog dotted with colour

Old Bexhill, Eastbourne and John Nash Exhibition

Wednesday 26th May: I had no idea there was an old part of Bexhill. I came across it on a map and as I had some free time before heading off into Eastbourne, I decided to take a look. Just a ten minute walk from where I was staying brought me here. Lovely old buildings, a manor house and a church made this the ideal place to spend some time.

The hill – looking back to Bexhill seafront

The walk up is a tree lined path, and looking back from the hill you can still glimpse the sea. The village is small – a few shops, a tea room/cafe (which I considered, but I’d not long had breakfast!), the church of St Peter’s and the Manor House. The Barn is the only building still standing, and is now a venue for weddings and other events. The ruins of the Manor House still show glimpses of rooms with fireplaces, arches and windows. The gardens are beautiful. There are many places to sit and the peace and quiet settles around you. There is so much history here. There has been a house on this site for 900 years and I can do no better than direct you to the website for the full history. Please do read about the Manor House here.

Having sat and enjoyed the peace and warmth (the sun was out at last), I began to head back, but as I came to the church, a man was putting out a board and I asked if they were open and could I look round. He happily let me have a wander, putting on lights so I could see better. We had a chat, and he gave me one of their parish diaries. The embroidery circle was arriving for their morning get together, and I realised how much I’d missed being able to visit churches and the familiar goings-on of parish life. Since Covid 19, this was just the fourth time I’d set foot in a church.

Leaving the Old Town behind me, I knew I’d have to go back another time. I headed to the sea front and the De La Warr Pavilion. There was a free exhibition which I wandered through and I paid a visit to the shop (never can resist a shop with so many books!). There was also a guy there selling vinyl records, and I was tempted, but I knew I’d have to get them home safely if I bought any, and my suitcase had been pretty full from the start.

Holly Hendry – Digesting the conversation

It was still a little early to go into Eastbourne. I was due to meet my brother there at 12.30pm. We’d not seen each other since the end of July last year. For a while I sat on the seafront where it became quite hot. Finally, I set off for the station. The journey only takes about fifteen minutes or so, and for a while follows the coast, and you have some great views of the sea. At Eastbourne station I met my brother, and we had lunch together before heading off to the Towner Gallery to view the John Nash Exhibition.

I’m a big fan of John and Paul Nash. Both were war artists, though their directions later were different. This link takes you to a page of the Nash brother’s war art. At the exhibition there was a whole range of John Nash’s art from his war paintings to his illustrations for book covers and books, from his early days to his last days. It was a fascinating exhibition, and featured art from artists he was friends with (Edward Bawden being one) and his brother Paul. There was much information about John Nash’s life, his mother’s mental health, his loves, and his little son who died tragically in an accident.

Here is another link to art works for sale. A lot of these are on view at the exhibition, and it shows the range of John Nash’s art.

After the exhibition we had a walk along the seafront towards the pier before going back to the station. The weather had certainly improved. There had been more sun than cloud this day.