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.
21/01/2021
Arnolfini: 1961 - 2021: Coming celebrations!
Bristol’s International Centre for Contemporary Arts est. 1961
Welcome back to Arnolfini in 2021 - even if it is not yet in the circumstances that we would all have wanted. Arnolfini is 60 years old in 2021 and we will share our programme plans to celebrate in the coming weeks and months as conditions allow. This year we will also continue to amplify, share and develop our partnership with UWE, Bristol through many joint projects and creative ideas.
As current Director of Arnolfini it’s a huge privilege to be custodian of this extraordinary 60 year history of cultural activity and we let it guide our continued determination to bring culture and art to the city, the south west and its many communities in as many ways as we can. This year we will continue to extend our programme of major exhibitions with artists Frank Bowling and Stephen Gill, further grow our range of community based programmes, welcome the work of many partner organisations and artists and open new spaces and new initiatives to extend our programming.
In 2020 our exhibitions, events and online presentations were experienced by tens of thousands of people, despite the restrictions of the pandemic, and we opened our doors at every possible opportunity to make sure as many people could visit in person as feasible. Behind the scenes we have adapted to the changes, building many new projects and partnerships, and we are excited and ready to share these as soon as we are able.
We look forward to working for you - our audiences, friends and partners - in 2021 to continue to bring great contemporary art to Bristol and the region and to our online platforms. Thank you all for your invaluable, ongoing support and we hope to see you soon.
Jo Spence: From Fairy Tales to Phototherapy | Photographs from The Hyman Collectionis a major retrospective of the work of photographer Jo Spence, drawn from one of the most comprehensive collections of her work in the world. From Fairy Tales to Phototherapy focuses on the intersection between arts, health and wellbeing, celebrating Spence’s work as a photo therapist in which she used photography as a medium to address personal trauma, reflecting on key moments in her past. until end May 2021
A Picture of Health | Women Photographers from The Hyman Collectiondraws together major works from Heather Agyepong, Sonia Boyce, Eliza Hatch, Susan Hiller, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Anna Fox, Rosy Martin (in collaboration with Verity Welstead), Polly Penrose, Jo Spence, and Paloma Tendero. The exhibition aims to de-stigmatise subjects around mental health and create an environment in which people can have open conversations about their wellbeing, whilst including the voices of local people with lived experiences of mental health. until end May 2021
Our friends at The Hyman Collection, who generously loaned us the works for Jo Spence and A Picture of Health, are planning for both shows to be available as touring exhibitions. Keep an eye here and on our socials for details as they become available.
Looking forward to hopefully less challenging and sunnier times, Arnolfini are thrilled to bring you two of the finest artists in their respective disciplines.
As Above So Below, Frank Bowling, 2020, acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of Sir Frank Bowling Kt OBE RA and Hauser & Wirth (c) Sir Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2020
Arnolfini are delighted to invite audiences to a major exhibition with pioneering painter Sir Frank Bowling, OBE RA. The exhibition will feature new and recent work, as Frank continues his exploration and experimentation with the painted surface that has marked his extraordinary career.
The exhibition follows Bowling’s recent signing with Hauser & Wirth who will stage their first exhibition of Bowling’s work at the New York gallery in April 2021 and London gallery in May 2021. The Arnolfini exhibition will be Bowling’s first museum exhibition since his widely applauded and long overdue retrospective at Tate Britain in 2019 which cemented his reputation as a ‘modern master’.
In a year of anniversaries at Arnolfini, we will be celebrating over thirty years of extraordinary practice from Bristol-born photographer Stephen Gill, drawing together new previously un-exhibited work, alongside works from other iconic series including Hackney Flowers, Buried, Talking to Ants,Night Procession,Pigeons,Coexistence and Coming up for Air. Also featuring the first UK presentation of images from award winning photographic series and book The Pillar, the exhibition will explore Gill’s rich sense of place, leading us through the flea markets and towpaths of Hackney Wick in London, to his current rural surroundings amidst the Swedish countryside.
image: centre Jeremy Rees, Founder of Arnolfini 1937-2003
In March 1961 co-founders Jeremy and Annabel Rees realised their pioneering ambition to bring contemporary art to Bristol and open the first Arnolfini gallery above a small bookshop in Clifton.
Throughout its 60 year history Arnolfini’s programme has welcomed tens of thousands of artists, from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds, supporting and developing their work, investigating their influences and aspirations, to share their creations to tens of millions of people here in Bristol.
Our 2021 anniversary programme will feature artists including Peter Blake, Keith Piper,Sutapa Biswas, Ian Breakwell, and David Nash, presented in a range of different formats, with the involvement of a range of different collaborators. Sam Francis will present an online residency, focusing on Somerset – A Year in the Life of a Field, by Westcountry artist Lizzie Cox Seminal performance artist Bobby Baker, whose work explores and celebrates everyday life, and promotes gender equality, will deliver an online performance. We will also launch a new publication by Writer In Residence, Melissa Chemam, reflecting on the histories of African and African Diaspora artists at Arnolfini, as well as join with our long-term partners In Between Time who celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2021.
More details to follow soon. Meantime, if you would like to explore Arnolfini’s History and Archive, please head toArnolfini | History and Archive.
We would love to hear your memories of Arnolfini, please get in touch at archive@arnolfini.org.uk.
Following an enthusiastic response, we have extended the availability of Heather Agyepong'sArt in the City, part of a series of international artist’s talks co-presented by Fine Art UWE Bristol and Arnolfini at the end of last year.
image: Too Many Blackamoors (#2), 2015, Heather Agyepong. (Courtesy of the artist-Autograph ABP)
Bristol arts duo, Let’s Make Art, guide children in making a standing cardboard portrait of themselves with an interior scene as well as an outward showing persona. until end May 2021
As part of The Big Draw campaign, UWEdrawing and print students designed a range of free creative activities inspired by our current exhibitions, A Picture of Health and Jo Spence: From Fairy Tales to Phototherapy. until end May 2021
In what is a challenging time for everyone, lockdowns and restrictions on capacity in the Galleries, Bookshop and Cafe Bar have led to a much reduced income for Arnolfini as a charity.
If you're able to make a donation - any amount is much appreciated - please go to www.justgiving.com/arnolfini or via the link below. Your support helps us continue to welcome everyone to our community, to explore culture and connect through contemporary art. Thank you.
Arnolfini Bookshop remains open online offering some great reads in the shape of art and culture books, periodicals and magazines, as well as an eclectic choice of fiction, delightful children's books, original gifts and greetings cards. We're also happy to try and source titles not listed online and relish the challenge of seeking out more obscure titles. Drop us a line at bookshop@arnolfini.org.uk And, while you're here, many thanks to all of you who did your festive shopping with us last month and continue to support your local, independent Bookshop.
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