Chantal Joffe @ Arnolfini

This exhibition opened this week at the Arnolfini gallery, here in Bristol.

I had the pleasure to go on Friday 4 September, and to enjoy the very special emotions conveyed by these very intimate portraits and self-portraits.

My photos really don't do justice to the special feeling when entering Chantal Joffe's world, her intimate life with her daughter Esme and some reflections of her life in lockdown this year, including a lot of intimate moments, created by the painter with herself as a model, instead of the traditional object/subject/artist relationship. A rare female gaze on women's bodies, emotions and internal turmoil.

CHANTAL JOFFE : FOR ESME – WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR

Thursday, 3rd September 2020 to Sunday, 22nd November 2020, 12:00 to 17:00

Tickets for both Chantal Joffe and Hassan Hajjaj's exhibitions are released in a timely manner to accommodate other events taking place at Arnolfini allowing for social distancing considerations.

Free entry. Exhibition slots bookable in advance. → Book

The exhibition has been curated by Chantal Joffe, Dorothy Price, Gemma Brace and Arnolfini, and supported by Joffe’s gallery Victoria Miro.

Photos by myself:

Chantal Joffe: For Esme – with Love and Squalor, explores the intimate act of painting and portraiture. Taking its name from J.D. Salinger’s short story For Esmé – with Love and Squalor (1950) in which time hangs as heavy as the protagonist’s ‘enormous-faced chronographic-looking wristwatch’, the exhibition captures the changing faces across the years of Chantal and her daughter Esme, moving between mother and daughter, love and squalor, and the act of care and being cared for.

Including a number of new works (many produced whilst in ‘lockdown’), highlights include a series of portraits of Joffe’s daughter, from older works such as Esme (First Painting) captured as a new-born swaddled in blankets, to the later, defiantly awkward, Esme in White, painted within days of her sixteenth birthday this year.

These sit alongside a number of self-portraits, including the both intimate and monumental Bonnard inspired Reading in Bath I and III; never-before seen series Pictures of What I Did Not See, which depicts Joffe undergoing a traumatic illness and being cared for by Esme and a series of startlingly honest self-portraits. Produced one a day over the course of a year this 2018 series captures both the artist and her environment – from London’s cool winter light to the haze of a summer in the stifling New York heat.

The relationship between subject and place (specifically the domestic interior) and solitude and company within each of these works feels especially resonant. To paraphrase co-curator Dorothy Price, art historian and long-time collaborator of Joffe, Joffe’s work ‘traces a finger of time through the very act of being alive.’

12 Communities 1 Bristol: New podcast!

Happy and proud to have participated to this project, and met lovely people!

I've worked in radio since 2006, first as a guest cultural journalist and then as a reporter. My first radio package was produced in Haiti, then I worked intensely in East and Central Africa, and more recently in Europe. 

When I came to Bristol in 2015, I fell in love with its diversity, the creativity, kindness and openness of its citizens. 

I've been to many parts of Bristol as a reporter, and I am honoured to have participated in BCfm's project to represent more of Bristol. 

Out of the 12 communities, I chose to report on Knowle West because I live in Bedminster now, South Bristol, and also because what took me to Bristol in the first place was its music scene. I thought that Tricky's story, and Flynn's story were empowering and positive. 

I hope that listeners will get to understand these 12 communities more in depth and that it'll help all of us to reconnect, especially in such a disconnecting year.

On air soon: from 17 September!

Press release:

BCfm launches Bristol oral history podcast

BCfm is launching a new local oral history podcast called 12 Communities 1 Bristol.

The series, by Marcus Smith, is in partnership with Bristol Museums, Bristol Archives, UWE Bristol and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Each of the 12 episodes will focus on a particular Bristol neighbourhood – Barton Hill, Knowle West, Lawrence Weston, Easton, Fishponds, Hartcliffe, St George, Hillfields, Southmead, Eastville, Stockwood and Avonmouth.

The podcast follows over a year of training and recording with a mixed pool of more than 40 volunteers and students from across the city.

Marcus Smith tells us more: “There are stories of an old man in Hartcliffe who eats snails and calls them wall-fish, funny tales of a female rugby team based in Avonmouth, plus hip hop from Knowle West and bee conservation in St George.

“Many of these areas are often overlooked or stigmatised. So we have created something to change perceptions and share unique local stories. This new podcast is for Bristolians, welcomed newcomers and future generations to come.”

Patrick Hart, Station Manager, BCfm Radio said: “The last 12 months have been a difficult year for the station with a major fire destroying our studios and just as we thought things were getting back to normal – Then coronavirus happened and hit us all.

“In the midst of this, Marcus and the team have managed to put together some simply amazing pieces of audio that really do represent those 12 communities of Bristol – I can’t wait for the city to hear them.”

Cllr Craig Cheney, Deputy Mayor, Bristol City Council adds: “I’m delighted to see the launch of a local podcast that will shine a light on the lives of people from across Bristol’s diverse and vibrant communities.

“Each community has its own stories to tell, and I’m looking forward to hearing about the uniqueness of each community and the things that tie us together as a city.”

‘12 Communities 1 Bristol’ will be available from September 17th on BCfm Radio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and all mainstream podcast providers.

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link to article: https://radiotoday.co.uk/2020/09/bcfm-launches-bristol-oral-history-podcast/

Atlantics: A Ghost Love Story

 

What a film...

Thank you Watershed for a gripping screening. 

Atlantics: A Ghost Love Story / Atlantique (2019) - Trailer  

Directed by : Mati Diop Produced by : Les Films du Bal Genre: Fiction - Runtime: 1 h 44 min French release: 02/10/2019 Production year: 2019 Along the Atlantic coast, a soon-to-be-inaugurated futuristic tower looms over a suburb of Dakar. Ada, 17, is in love with Souleiman, a young construction worker. But she has been promised to another man. One night, Souleiman and his co-workers leave the country by sea, in hope of a better future. Several days later, a fire ruins Ada’s wedding and a mysterious fever starts to spread. Little does Ada know that Souleiman has returned.

The Markaz Review

 

We’re creating a new cultural review! 

On Middle Eastern issues, with a group of exceptional writers and researchers.

The Markaz champions a greater understanding of the Middle East and North Africa by presenting artistic and educational programs that bridge political and religious divides. 

In a search for common ground, the Center fosters discussions among artists and thinkers and offers classes and workshops that serve diverse ethnic communities.

- see here: The Markaz

First issue out mid-September, dedicated to Lebanon. 

More on this soon. 

This made my (poor, let's be fair, until now) day:

Banksy funds refugee rescue boat operating in Mediterranean

Exclusive: UK artist finances bright pink motor yacht that set sail in secrecy to avoid being intercepted by authorities

The boat, named Louise Michel, features Banksy artwork depicting a girl in a life vest. Photograph: Ruben Neugebauer

Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo and Maurice Stierl in Berlin

Thu 27 Aug 2020 17.30 BST

The British street artist Banksy has financed a boat to rescue refugees attempting to reach Europe from north Africa, the Guardian can reveal.

The vessel, named Louise Michel after a French feminist anarchist, set off in secrecy on 18 August from the Spanish seaport of Burriana, near Valencia, and is now in the central Mediterranean where on Thursday it rescued 89 people in distress, including 14 women and four children.

It is now looking for a safe seaport to disembark the passengers or to transfer them to a European coastguard vessel.

The crew, made up of European activists with long experience in search and rescue operations, had already assisted in two other rescue operations involving a total of 105 people, who are now onboard the NGO vessel Sea-Watch 4.

Painted in bright pink and featuring Banksy artwork depicting a girl in a life vest holding a heart-shaped safety buoy, the Louise Michel sails under a German flag. The 31-metre motor yacht, formerly owned by French customs authorities, is smaller but considerably faster than other NGO rescue vessels.

Banksy’s involvement in the rescue mission goes back to September 2019 when he sent an email to Pia Klemp, the former captain of several NGO boats that have rescued thousands of people over recent years.

The vessel set off in secrecy from the Spanish port of Burriana, near Valencia. Photograph: Ruben Neugebauer

“Hello Pia, I’ve read about your story in the papers. You sound like a badass,” he wrote. “I am an artist from the UK and I’ve made some work about the migrant crisis, obviously I can’t keep the money. Could you use it to buy a new boat or something? Please let me know. Well done. Banksy.”

Klemp, who initially thought it was a joke, believes she was chosen by Banksy due to her political stance. “I don’t see sea rescue as a humanitarian action, but as part of an anti-fascist fight,” she told the Guardian.

She has made clear that Banksy’s involvement in the operations is limited to providing financial support. “Banksy won’t pretend that he knows better than us how to run a ship, and we won’t pretend to be artists.”

With a top speed of 27 knots, the Louise Michel would be able to “hopefully outrun the so-called Libyan coastguard before they get to boats with refugees and migrants and pull them back to the detention camps in Libya”, said Klemp.

Pia Klemp in October 2017. Photograph: Lisa Hoffmann

Non-state sea rescuers have long criticised the mass return of migrants to Libya by the Libyan coastguard in collaboration with EU member states. International organisations have accused the Libyan coastguard of mistreating people at sea or selling them off to militias at Libyan harbours after intercepting them.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 7,600 migrants have been intercepted so far this year and returned to Libya, a war-torn country where different political factions continue to struggle for power. Often confined to informal camps, the situation for migrants in Libya is desperate, with acts of systematic torture and rape long documented by human rights organisations.

The 10 crew members of the Louise Michel have diverse backgrounds, but they all identify as anti-racist and anti-fascist activists advocating for radical political change. As it is a feminist project, only female crew members are allowed to speak in the name of the Louise Michel.

Lea Reisner, a nurse and head of mission for the first rescue operation, said the project was anarchist at its heart, meant to bring together a variety of struggles for social justice, including for women’s and LGBTIQ rights, racial equality, migrants’ rights, environmentalism and animal rights.

The planning of the mission was carried out in secrecy between London, Berlin and Burriana, where the Louise Michel had docked to be equipped for sea rescues. The crew feared that media attention could compromise their goals: if word had circulated that a project financed by Banksy would soon sail toward the central Mediterranean to rescue migrants, the European authorities could have attempted to thwart the mission. For this reason, Banksy’s team and the rescue activists agreed to release the news about the boat only after carrying out the first rescue.

The Louise Michel is the latest intervention by members of civil society seeking to prevent deaths in the Mediterranean. Other NGO rescuers have engaged in rescue activities this year but have been impeded by what they consider to be excessive and politically motivated inspections carried out by Italian authorities. Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions have also affected sea rescue activities, with NGO crews unable to return to the central Mediterranean for the last several weeks.

So far in 2020, more than 500 refugees and migrants are known to have died in the Mediterranean sea, and the real number is estimated to be considerably higher. On Wednesday, 45 people – including five children – died when the engine on their boat exploded off Libya, in the country’s deadliest shipwreck this year, the UN said. More than 19,500 migrants have survived the Mediterranean crossing along the central maritime route this year and reached Italy or Malta.

Claire Faggianelli, an activist who prepared the Louise Michel for its first mission, saw the project as a wake-up call for Europe. “We really want to try to awaken the consciousness of Europe and say: ‘Look, we have been yelling at you for years now. There is something that shouldn’t be happening at the very borders of Europe, and you close your eyes to it. Wake up!’” she said.

NEW BOOK: Narratives from Beyond the UK Reggae Bassline

 Happy to announce that, a bit more than two years ago, I was asked to contribute to this book! 

It will finally be coming out in January 2021:

Narratives from Beyond the UK Reggae Bassline -
The System is Sound

- with Palgrave in Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music

I did the chapter on Bristol, of course, Bristol reggae!  

This book explores the history of reggae in modern Britain from the time it emerged as a cultural force in the 1970s. As basslines from Jamaica reverberated across the Atlantic, so they were received and transmitted by the UK’s Afro-Caribbean community. 

• From roots to lovers’ rock, from deejays harnessing the dancehall crowd to dub poets reporting back from the socio-economic front line, British reggae soundtracked the inner-city experience of black youth. 
• In time, reggae’s influence permeated the wider culture, informing the sounds and the language of popular music whilst also retaining a connection to the street-level sound systems, clubs and centres that provided space to create, protest and innovate. 
• This book is therefore a testament to struggle and ingenuity, a collection of essays tracing reggae’s importance to both the culture and the politics of late twentieth and early twenty-first century Britain.

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Details here: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030551605

Does diversity exist in the UK folk music scene?

 

Folk Talk Live - Lady Nade & Friends

As part of English Folk Expo's Folk Talk Live event, we hosted this discussion between Lady Nade, Yola, Allison Russell and Kyshona.

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Lady Nade said: 

I recently put together a talk in connection with English Folk Expo conference. In this session with Grammy Nominated Yola, Kyshona and Allison Russell (Birds of Chicago, Our Native Daughters) I asked; “Does diversity exist in the UK folk music scene?”.

My enduring passion and love affair with music began at the tender age of 14, I recognised that creating music was borne from my desire to have a stable support system and an opportunity to honestly express myself and my personal experiences.

Learning that loss and grief isn’t something one can recover from alone with my music and recipes that I often create to pair with songs, I pride myself on creating a communal experience that everyone can enter into on their terms.

With the complicated times we’re living in, the lockdown has given many of us time for deep reflection and in light of the Black Lives Matter movement I have felt I’ve been given more of an opportunity to be heard and seen.

I hadn't always noticed any difference between myself and my musical peers. However, it became apparent as I progressed that my heritage would play a part in my artistry whether I wanted it to or not. 

Throughout my pursuit to sustain a music career I have faced many barriers: being objectified, working-class background and my accent. These have compounded the prejudices I have already faced and have made it harder to be taken seriously as an artist at times.

Encouraged by the more honest debate being sparked by the BLM protests and Blackout Tuesday.

It has opened up a direct dialogue about inequalities and systematic racism faced by black people. 

Some people have been shocked to realise what has gone on right beneath their noses. It has been brilliant to see people actively engaging in healthy debates and reflecting on the pitfalls of the current status quo.

 

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“There is no mistaking the tender, powerful, velveteen vocals of Lady Nade.”  Folk Radio 

"Love her voice - check her out’ "Mark Radcliffe - The Folk Show - BBC Radio2

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Lady Nade's social networks:

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www.youtube.com/ladynadevideos 

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