Journalist at RFI (ex-DW, BBC...), writer, (first book on Bristol's music/art; e-book on African art), I also work on films, as a journalism lecturer, and a contributor to the New Arab, Art UK, etc.
Born in Paris, I was based in Prague, Miami, London, Nairobi (covering East Africa), Bangui, and Bristol, UK. I also travelled to Italy, Haiti, Tunisia, Liberia, Senegal, India, Mexico, Iraq... My passions: Africa, music, arts...
This blog is to share my work and cultural discoveries.
My latest interview is filled with joy, colours and roads....
The brilliant and unique visual artist Hassan Hajjaj talks about his show opening tomorrow in Bristol's Arnolfini gallery!
But also about his native Morocco, North African and African cultures, his career in London, his exhibitions to my native Paris and beyond, and about his art, travels and inspirations in these strange times of re-thinking and re-shaping of our world...
Hassan Hajjaj in conversation with Arnolfini's Writer in Residence, Melissa Chemam
Ahead of Hassan Hajjaj: The Path opening, Arnolfini's Writer in Residence, Melissa Chemam, caught up with Hassan Hajjaj for a chat that spanned common links with their North African heritage, Hassan's work, influences, music and bringing an exhibition to Bristol for the first time.
Make yourself a cup of something, sit back and enjoy this delightful, meandering conversation.
More details and how to book your exhibition slot on the Arnolfini's website!
“There are endless ways of being a political artist,” French-Algerian visual artist Kader Attia once said. “I go back and forth between a highly political grammar and syntax and work that is much more poetical. But even with the poetical, there is something there. It’s a matter of degree.” Artists, he thinks, have a responsibility to “supplement a failing education system by holding up for scrutiny moments that would otherwise get lost.”
In the history of popular music, few bands have mastered this art as deeply and beautifully as Massive Attack, who just surprisingly released ‘Eutopia’, a three tracks EP featuring the Algiers, the Young Fathers and Saul Williams.
As they explained in their press release: “The lockdown exposed the best aspects and worst flaws of humanity. This period of uncertainty and anxiety forced us to meditate on the obvious need to change the damaging systems we live by.”
Eutopia is an entirely unseen form of protest art. It features commentaries from political experts Christiana Figueres, who wrote the UN Paris Climate Agreement, Universal Basic Income theorist Guy Standing and professor Gabriel Zucman, the mind behind the American Wealth Tax policy.
The spirit of Eutopia “has nothing to do with naïve notions of an ideal perfect world,” they added, “and everything to do with the urgent and practical need to build something better. In this sense, Eutopia is the opposite of a spelling mistake.”
The project was conceived by Robert Del Naja aka 3D and Mark Donne, who worked together in Mark’s film ‘The UK Gold’ on the subject of tax evasion. Touched by the new challenges added by the pandemic to the global environmental crisis, Robert started working with Bristol Food Union and Caring In Bristol charities. He raised more than one hundred thousand pounds with his iconic artwork ‘Protection’, inspired by mid-90s themes.
The team also included Anthony Tombling Jr from Unit 3 Films production and AI artist Mario Klingemann, who worked with Adam Curtis for the Mezzanine anniversary shows in 2019.
Eutopia is an independent no-profit project that offers credible social, economic and political solutions. It was created as “a unique format where the message was the medium”, a team member told me. Made available only on social media and free video streaming platforms.
While ‘Utopia’ is in its original meaning is a place that doesn’t exist, ‘Eutopia’ is a place of well-being, with an urgent need to be designed. If not, now, when?
The statue was "erected" at 5am this morning, as reported by the press.
The artist's interview was already in The Guardian at 9:
Even Channel 4 filmed the supposedly secret event...
The reactions are polarised in Bristol and the UK to say the least, but especially in the art world.
Of course, many activists are supporting the piece and especially the woman it represents: Bristol protester Jen Reid, who said to the same Guardian that she 'shed a tear' when she saw a sculpture of her replace that of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol this Wednesday. She has worked with Quinn for days to get this piece done.
Meanwhile, alt-right militants are outraged to see a black activist on this plinth... and threatened to take it down, might even do so tonight.
But also, many wonder why this came out of the blue, from an artist that has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter, Colston, or colonial history to begin with. Never supported political causes very strongly...
When Bristol-born and politically funny Banksy came up respectfully and jokingly on Instagram with a proposal representing the fall of the statue and the protesters in action, he was mocked as not valid enough. He went on to paint rats playing with masks in the Tube instead... in London where he probably spent the lockdown, as most of his life.
So why would a Londoner millionaire male celebrity be more appropriate?
Many in Bristol have since 7 June demanded a deep discussion about history and the role of public art. Others were quite satisfied to keep an empty plinth for a while, as a reminder of the recent events, before a new form of art could be envisioned, maybe without plinths or pedestals in general.
On Twitter, researcher in art Dr Edwin Coomasaru @ecoomasaru wrote:
Marc Quinn: “I have been listening and learning and one of the phrases that really struck me was, ‘White silence is violence.’” —um, not sure occupying more space is the response? If he really wanted to be involved he could have commissioned a Black artist
Artist Thomas J Price @TJPStudio commented: “Looks like #marcquinn literally just created the Votive statue to appropriation! #appropriationart”
I completely agree. Or at least give them a chance to!
Thomas Price is, with Veronica Ryan, one of the two Black artists commissioned to design two sculptures to become the first permanent artworks to honour the Windrush generation - – including a 2.7-metre (9ft) figure that will stand outside Hackney town hall in London.
In regards to these critics and to the operational mode used to bring the new statue to Bristol, it seems quite obvious that Marc Quinn has done something totally old-fashioned and typical: controlling the narrative as a white privileged celeb artist capturing a moment he has nothing to do with...
Again, his interview was already in the Guardian before most Bristolians could get a chance to see the plinth. All was prepared for publicity.
And again we have a man choosing to represent a woman, the traditional pygmalion idea.
I'm happy for the activist but I hope other artists will get their chance to express their experience around this century-long story.
For an artist who became known with a piece called 'Self', I guess it's not surprising... Indeed the first work for Marc Quinn to gain international fame was exhibited in 1991, when he was 27, and 'Self' is a, well indeed, self-portrait formed by a frozen cast of 10 pints of the artist's blood. It is "an ongoing work, where the artist portrays himself every five years through a new cast with new blood."
The mayor Marvin Rees reacted with this statement: "the future of the plinth and any memorials must be decided on by the people of Bristol."
Hopefully, this Marc Quinn statue will be a temporary gesture, moved somewhere else as it's really nice, and a younger, more edgy - and African/Caribbean - artist will get a chance to create something unique for this plinth as well.
Massive Attack "surprisingly" released a new EP called Eutopia this Friday, 10 July 2020.
This release come after the band's last three releases in 2016, EPs titled Ritual Spirit, The Spoils and the rarer Dear Friend, in limited final editions, featuring James Massiah.
Massive Attack x Algiers - Eutopia EP
This unusual set of three songs is quoting Thomas More’s 16th century book Utopia, and includes audiovisual release available on YouTube, created by Robert Del Naja with a team including documentary filmmaker Mark Donne and Anthony Tombling Jr at Unit 3 Films.
The pieces are featuring the American band Algiers, American singer-songwriter Saul Williams, and their Scottish friends of Young Fathers, along with three key political speakers:
-Christiana Figueres, who wrote the UN Paris Climate Agreement;
-universal basic income theorist Guy Standing, from SOAS university;
-and Gabriel Zucman, the professor behind the “wealth tax” policy in America.
Created in different lockdown location including Bristol, the songs and videos address the need for global change— via visuals from AI artist Mario Klingemann, who worked with the band and the filmmaker Adam Curtis for Massive Attack’s Mezzanine anniversary shows in 2019.
Massive Attack x Young Fathers - Eutopia EP
Massive Attack said in a press release:
"Lockdown exposed the best aspects and worst flaws of humanity. That period of uncertainty and anxiety forced us to meditate on the obvious need to change the damaging systems we live by.
By working with three experts, we’ve created a sonic and visual dialogue around these global, structural issues; taking the form of climate emergency, tax haven extraction and Universal Basic Income.
The spirit of this EP, its elements and ideas have nothing to do with naïve notions of an ideal, perfect world, and everything to do with the urgent & practical need to build something better.
In this sense, Eutopia is the opposite of spelling mistake."
The NME described it this morning as a "stunning audio-visual EP."
Massive Attack x Saul Williams - Eutopia EP
The video should be available in French, Spanish and German soon, and a vinyl release might be on the way...
Taken from the Eutopia EP
Featuring Young Fathers, Algiers and Saul Williams
Written and produced by Robert Del Naja and Euan Dickinson.
Film Written and produced by Robert Del Naja and Mark Donne
Generative visuals by Mario Klingemann
Editing and title animations by Anthony Tombling JR
Constructed at Unit 3 Films
2020
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Follow Massive Attack:
https://www.instagram.com/massiveatta...https://twitter.com/MassiveAttackUKhttps://www.facebook.com/massiveattackhttp://www.massiveattack.co.uk/
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Massive Attack - Massive Attack x Algiers - Eutopia EP
Taken from the Eutopia EP
Featuring Young Fathers, Algiers and Saul Williams
Written and produced by Robert Del Naja and Euan Dickinson.
Film Written and produced by Robert Del Naja and Mark Donne
Generative visuals by Mario Klingemann
Editing and title animations by Anthony Tombling JR
Constructed at Unit 3 Films
2020
"Flame Twin" is taken from Norah's newest album 'Pick Me Up Off The Floor,' out now and available to stream/download here: https://NorahJones.lnk.to/PickMeUpOff...
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Norah Jones - 'Flame Twin'
I am the runner You are the chaser My twin in flames 'Til we meet again
I am the lost You can't be found My twin in flames Lift me from the ground
You are the hider I am the seeker My twin, I'm in flames I'm rolling about
I have a name You call me by none My twin, I'm on fire Come put me out
As God is my witness I try to be strong But my twin, I'm on fire Don't string me along
Wake you from slumber You fall so hard Twin, we're in flames We've gone too far
My pockets are empty Your heart is stripped bare My twin in flames We're not even there
Can't see Past the border or smoke My twin, inflamed Who I'm sorry I woke
The circle continues As plain as can be My love, let me go I should let you be
You are the runner I am the chaser My twin in flames 'Til we meet again
The official video for Lianne La Havas – 'Can't Fight'
Directed by Kevin Morosky
Pre-order the new album 'Lianne La Havas', out 17.07.20 https://www.liannelahavas.co/album -
'Can't Fight' - lyrics
It seems that I won't be warned
And certainly, I saw a sign
I raged like a woman scorned
But something about you got me gone
You're pulling me back and now I'm going under
A little peace, a little love
A little bit, is that enough?
I can't fight away this love
I knew that I should give you up
I tried to run but got my heart stuck
I can't fight away this love
Can't fight away this love
The things that I want and need
But they always seem to be at odds with me
Oh, why?
When did Heaven get this heavy?
Everything's right until it's wrong
But something about you feels like home
Oh, baby, you know that you got me gone
You're pulling me back and now I'm going under, oh
Follow Lianne La Havas:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/LianneLaHavas/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LianneLaHavas
Twitter - https://twitter.com/liannelahavas
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/liannelahavas
Website - http://www.liannelahavas.com
Windrush Day could become a national holiday and help the UK teach colonial and post-colonial history. Just as St Pauls Carnival in Bristol in July and Notting Hill’s in London in August, it reminds us of the positive contribution of the Caribbean communities in the UK.
After covering the Windrush events in London in 2018 and 2019, I participated in an online event with My Future My Choice, live from a ship, the MV Balmoral, in the centre of Bristol. The event explored Bristol’s fascinating multicultural heritage of migration, colonialism, maritime history and activism, notably in favour of an evolution of the school curriculum and the recognition of movements such as Black Lives Matter. It included poetry workshops with pupils and short animated films produced by filmmakers of 8th Sense Media, in collaboration with Roger Griffith, MBE, writer and social activist.
Since the assassination of George Floyds in the United States, the Black Lives Matter movement has grown steadily in Europe, especially in the UK. The protests are reopening deep colonial wounds, especially in cities like Liverpool, Oxford and London.
In Bristol, a port city enriched in the 17th and 18th centuries by triangular trade, the statue of the merchant Edward Colston, famous for his philanthropy but responsible for transporting tens of thousands of Africans enslaved, was overthrown in early June. These images have since gone around the world to reopen debates on reparations, restitution of works of art and racism in British institutions.
The celebration of Edward Colston had been controversial for over 20 years, as had the statues of colonialist Cecil Rhodes at Oxford and southern general Robert Lee in the United States.
For Cleo Lake, a city councillor in Bristol and artist representing the Jamaican community, “this is an important step, and it would not have happened without demonstrations. When some criticise this movement, they should reflect on their own history and think for example of the suffragette movement, of women who also used force to obtain change! Their story is often watered down, but they were radical, used violence, and that was how they got it done.”
Dr Shawn Sobers, a teacher of the history of cultural practices at the University of West England, believes these questions must evolve with society. “The history is still there,” he explained. “Many people do not have statues but are very well known; we do not need statues to remember their actions. When I arrived in Bristol, I worked on proposals to add a plaque to explain its history, because I feared that the next generation would forget this side of the story. So it took me a while to form my opinion. But then I realised the statue did not have to be there, and that its place was in a museum.”
Black British achievements like the Bristol Bus Boycott must be included in our curriculum.
In 1963 the Caribbean, Asian or African workers started a strike against the Bristol Omnibus Company, which refused to employ them. The movement was led by a young social worker, Paul Stephenson, born in 1937 to a Jamaican father and an English mother, and lasted almost four months. The Bus Company eventually backed down and agreed to employ non-white workers on August 28, 1963. The same day, In America, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The Bristol Bus Boycott mobilised all around the UK to obtain a change in legislation. And the Race Relations Acts was consequently implemented in December 1965, to address racial discrimination.
Artist Michele Curtis created seven murals to celebrate men like Paul Stephenson the neighbourhood of St Paul’s in Bristol to celebrate men like Paul Stephenson.
“My project started out as a passion,” Michele told me in 2018. “I drew these people to introduce them to the younger generation and make them known. There are two neighbourhoods here where the black communities have settled, St Pauls and Easton. I grew up in a part of town called Easton, surrounded by workers, activists, people who have done a lot for the community. I started to draw these portraits and write these people’s biographies to share our story. I’m constantly thinking about how to reach more people with our positive story and the ‘Iconic Black Bristolians’ because there’s still a lot to do.”
