Playlist: Music as a Political Protest
Thinking about Brazil …
Music and politics have long had a intimate connection. On the week Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff was removed from her office, The Brazil Curator have compiled a playlist of music that has been used as political protest in the country.
http://thebrazilcurator.com/2016/05/14/playlist-music-as-a-political-protest/
A snapshot from the Library …
I cannot quite remember the name of the book … it was elderly and beautiful … and in the Cole Library
From the Cole Museum
Friday’s library snapshot (s)
Here at Special Collections and its raining I need some cheer !
It was quiet in the Reading Room on Wednesday afternoon it was half term and there were a few children enjoying the break in the weather and running around the garden after visiting the museum. Inside there were a couple of students doing what they needed to; perhaps making finishing touches to end of term essays. There were some people looking at books about land tax and hearth tax; they too didn’t need me. So I did something I had been meaning to do for ages. I took a couple of pictures of the tiles that surround the two fire places in the Reading Room. Although they are tucked away in the reading room they do attract a bit of attention.
And you can see why:
These tiles in the fireplace were designed by William de Morgan (1839-1917) who was the most important ceramic artist of the Arts and Crafts…
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The world … Weekly Photo Challenge
The world like the last century is my oyster. I oscillate throughout the day between the hemispheres and celebrate that I was born in the middle of the last century. My youngest child lives in Brazil and we chat most days sharing intimate details (within reason) of her comings and goings and I in return relate the bits and bobs that happen here in my back garden!
I reflect on my life as child in post war Britain and enjoy the wonders of science when I help undergraduates in the library at work.
The enormity of this never ceases to amaze me!
Long before we considered that our child would go to University, we went on holiday to what seemed so far flung … Portugal … late last century!
The little girl, tired of sightseeing and learning of the bloodless coup as recent as 1974 and the devastation of the earthquake of centuries back, was weeping.
Nearby, a team of men were repairing the pavement damaged more recently and less dramatically by a traffic. On man was carefully chipping pieces of white and black stone to lay in an intricate design so admired in Lisbon and later taken to Rio de Janeiro. He appeared to be oblivious to our family disorder; locked in his little world in a shady corner of the street. He looked up and beckoned to our sad child who looked back at us for the reassuring nod that he was not too ‘strange.’ He reached out from his squatting position on her level and handed her a little piece of rock carved into a heart shape. That action and the ice cream which followed made the world a better place. Now fast forward she in the southern hemisphere and us in the north zooming already into the next century … the rock (which mislaid at time of post) or more the memory of it has an uncanny knack of dragging us to the here and now.
Book Making …
For the last few weeks, more, months I have agonised over my next step (s) as an artist and in particular as an illustrator/writer. It has been very trying and there have been some sleepless nights and subsequent wasted days.
However, while the outcome is not yet decided I have made some small breakthroughs ….
I sigh thankfully; although this is not without help from other quarters. More gratitude!
I began writing and illustrating a book with no knowledge about the implications of such an endeavour even the most simple tasks have to be carefully thought through … some say backwards so that every aspect is considered
I muddled through like the proverbial bull with the finished article in sight I had no idea or vision that it should be reproduced; it was to be one book.
Although I did scan each page for no particular reason.
When it was finished and after all that effort I did want to share it. This is when the other decisions came into play and the obstructions caused by my lack of planning in the beginning.
Then there were the aesthetic qualities that had been my main reasons for the one book. They would be lost in reproduction. Its handmade-ness was what I loved and wanted to keep. Then there were the handmade flaws that could not be corrected with ‘electronica’ and would remain like unsightly carbuncles in horrible heap of unwanted books.
So I did have the book copied and’ it’ remains lovely the copies are flawed but OK.
So some decisions beg to be made before I begin another book. However, not before I explore the possibilities of making multiple copies using manual tools or rather using a printing press. By using my type high wood blocks, letterpress and lino cuts adapted to type high in a frame I can make pages and bind them myself. Thus each page has the right degree of handmade-ness and and correctness in balance … if that is possible?
So with that it mind I have experimented with sheet of paper printed with some letterpress that I had previously discarded from a another project; making a simple origami binding. After a couple of hours I had a very nice poetry book …
And since train tickets to Leicester in hand for another part of my wondrous journey.
So until the fat lady sings … no decisions just some more tentative steps.
Silent Sunday
Wednesday’s Wise Woman …
Beginning to look forward to my next trip to Brazil … what more can I say
Tia Ciata and Little Africa in Rio de Janeiro Roberto Moura
This weeks post does not venture far from the Brazilian music theme I have recently adopted. However we do go back in time to the late 19th century; To Rio in the hillside favelas where the modern samba emerged among the black and mixed-race peoples. It was during the time that slavery was abolished, the monarchy had ended and the first republic was being formed.
The question of citizenship was the topic of debate in literary and political circles. The Brazilian elite discussed the role of former slaves,immigrants and others who until now had been socially and politically excluded. According to some studies it was when the European dances such as the polka and Brazilian musical practices intertwined that the mediation began. It was a long slow process but it did give rise to Brazil’s first distinctly national urban…
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Weekly photo challenge … Admiration
Who do I admire? This is a difficult question to answer as the list is endless. So if pushed I would consider someone like Patti Smith, the singer songwriter and godmother of punk. Her positive attributes to the arts and human right issues is well documented; I cannot do them or her justice … suffice to say I admire Patti Smith.
Trying something new !
As I promised myself, my husband and I hit Reading to shop on Saturday in a celebratory mood as it is May Day weekend. In the fish shop with gentle banter we went away with all we required and feeling valued.Less so in the cheese shop where yet again they didn’t have much in the way of goat’s cheese, this is disappointing as this story has continued for several weeks … ‘we will have some in next week’ so they say. I am sad as there is always plenty of cow’s milk cheese for those who can tolerate it. I did buy goats cheese, but not all that I hoped I am not sure I will return which is a shame as we should be using the independent shops all we can.
I was not disappointed in the record shop after some chat with the owner we found the very one I wanted; a long player by Patti Smith, I had seen a couple of weeks back when it was out of my price range.
Having a good customer experience is not all about buying and selling it is more about good interpersonal skills.
The next part of my journey at the Art centre was just that. The art centre is run buy a couple of paid people but the rest are volunteers and the services are mostly free but as customers we still expect a good experience. Arriving a little early for the Vinyl Club we were welcomed warmly and felt at ease while some artists were making a giant for some other event. Others were moving tables, opening the bar or preparing snacks, there was a happy buzz of expectation and we were not disappointed. The music was a lovely selection brought in by ourselves a bunch of strangers with a common interest and it worked!
We went away not with an empty purse and full shopper but a happy heart!
So in good mood we walked to a pub a little out of the town centre, a beautiful building in a nice part of town. Not unlike the area where we had just visited the art centre. We had discovered that the pub recently taken over by new owners was now serving a selection of good ales and a cheese platter. While I am allergic to lactose I can tolerate a little goat’s cheese and I am am not adverse to beer. But since my husband enjoys all of the above it was an opportunity to do something new!
Sadly, we did not have the welcome we hoped for, the bar person was not even behind the bar; and did take several minutes to appear. Had she given us a reason for her tardiness with a smile we might have forgiven her and then we discovered that the cheese platter didn’t include goat’s cheese we did feel a bit hard done by. She did allow me to have the cheese I happened to have bought earlier.
We soon were the only people in the bar and we noticed that there were some pieces of art hung rather oddly and some books displayed and rather dreary background music. We imagined how such a beautiful building, with the management we had previously experienced could be a super art centre or exhibition space or music venue offering delicious simple food and good beer, what a wonderful combination or a silly dream. And then as the second beer warmed our hearts we wondered about a juke box … oh dear all this vinyl has made me daft. Oh yes and piano ?
Silent Sunday …
Coat Hanger Doll's House 