Today is our 7th wedding anniversary and the morning started at 6.30am with the Lozenge performing some contemporary dance, stark naked, with his new grade 1 hairdo, to the song about the animal fair. 'We went to the animal fair, the birds and beasts were there. The great baboon by the light of the moon, sat combing his auburn hair...' I joined him, fully clothed, having not had my hair cut since July. And as I watched him prancing about I wondered how we'd got here in only 7 years. I definitely don't feel qualified at times.
I spent the day at the gallery interviewing and filming some inspiring Arab artists in their 30s who are taking part in the residency programme which is part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the gallery this weekend. Each of the artists is educated and passionate about the history and the politics of this region - and having been raised here, they have a deep understanding of the customs, language and subtleties of the here, right now in all its complexity. They have all trained as architects, sculptors, painters or photographers, and are combining their skills to raise important questions about what's going on. And you can imagine, right now in history, how many questions there are to ask.
I filmed one Lebanese artist painting three huge shards of polystyrene with mud from the Dead Sea, representing its division between Jordan, Israel and Palestine in 1947; I filmed a Palestinian raised in Jerusalem weld huge metal frames into the shape of a caravan which he will balance on four oil barrels; and another Palestinian/Jordanian, raised in Kuwait, stencil borders onto a wall, with Arabic and English text raising the question of 'dwelling' and 'stillness' which come from the same root word in Arabic. I am truly grateful for this immersion in the intellectual and creative side of Arab culture right now. But again, I don't feel that qualified to be part of it. But being a bystander with camera and sound equipment is an honour in itself.
I spent the day at the gallery interviewing and filming some inspiring Arab artists in their 30s who are taking part in the residency programme which is part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the gallery this weekend. Each of the artists is educated and passionate about the history and the politics of this region - and having been raised here, they have a deep understanding of the customs, language and subtleties of the here, right now in all its complexity. They have all trained as architects, sculptors, painters or photographers, and are combining their skills to raise important questions about what's going on. And you can imagine, right now in history, how many questions there are to ask.
I filmed one Lebanese artist painting three huge shards of polystyrene with mud from the Dead Sea, representing its division between Jordan, Israel and Palestine in 1947; I filmed a Palestinian raised in Jerusalem weld huge metal frames into the shape of a caravan which he will balance on four oil barrels; and another Palestinian/Jordanian, raised in Kuwait, stencil borders onto a wall, with Arabic and English text raising the question of 'dwelling' and 'stillness' which come from the same root word in Arabic. I am truly grateful for this immersion in the intellectual and creative side of Arab culture right now. But again, I don't feel that qualified to be part of it. But being a bystander with camera and sound equipment is an honour in itself.
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