Sunday, November 26, 2023

An African Photo Show


Yesterday I spent the morning at home, trimming and neatening in the garden -- cutting old dead flower stalks, trimming the lavender, pulling up old asters, just making things neater in general. (Believe me, the overall impact is minute.)

My main goal was to deal with the dahlias. I guess I'm not lifting them this year because I am unmotivated to do so and I don't have a box for the tubers or any newspaper or other supplies. So it looks like they're staying in their pots for one more season. I trimmed the ragged tops off, pulled any weeds and stashed them in the shed, where they will overwinter. Job done. I guess I can always repot them in spring.

Then, after MORE TURKEY at lunch, I decided to go experience some culture. I went to the Tate Modern to see the exhibit "A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography." It featured photographers from all parts of Africa, Morocco to Lesotho, Mozambique to Senegal, working with an interesting mix of styles and materials. There were found historic photos from South Africa (which you know I liked, given my interest in old photographs), collages, mixed media installations and artists working with portraiture using religious iconography, trappings of royalty like thrones and crowns, and traditional African masks.


I was quite fascinated by this piece, "Will I Still Carry Water When I Am a Dead Woman?" by Wura-Natasha Ogunji. It's a 12-minute video of the artist and six other women, dressed in similar jumpsuits and hoods, laboriously dragging gold-colored bidons of water around the streets of Lagos, Nigeria. It poses questions about work, womanhood, resource availability, poverty and other issues and I found it riveting. I sat down and watched the whole thing. It was interesting to see the reactions of people on the street, from laughter to puzzlement.

If there was an overall theme to the show, it was how contemporary African artists are using the medium of photography to reclaim their land, heritage, spirituality and culture after centuries of colonialism.


When I emerged from the show in the late afternoon, the setting sun was casting an orange glow on the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral across the river. "Bellissima!" exclaimed the Italian tourists walking behind me.

I crossed the Millennium footbridge, where I was happy to see...


...that many of the works of chewing-gum art by Ben Wilson have been preserved. The bridge was recently closed for a couple of weeks to enable a deep-cleaning, and I'd read that the gum art would be a casualty of that process. But apparently Wilson arranged to preserve many of the miniature artworks, which he painstakingly paints on hardened, discarded chewing gum left by pedestrians.


I wonder if Sehnaz said yes to Tafayel?

I caught the tube home from St. Paul's and, back with Dave and Olga, finished decorating our indoor avocado tree for Christmas. I went all-out this year, putting up not only the Christmas lights but hanging ornaments as well. Photos to come!

I also brought in our tender plants as we had frost last night. They can probably all go back out today, but we're supposed to have sub-freezing temperatures next weekend so we'll be back on that merry-go-round for the next few months.

25 comments:

  1. A good exhibition should make people think!
    Nice that the gum art is still there...and the Thames side buildings looking like paintings of Venice....

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  2. I hear our timing was right for our visit to London, in terms of the temperature. It was too cold for SG as it was. We had planned to go the Tate Modern and never made it. Now I'm truly sorry.

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  3. We have an enormous slug problem in our garden. Can only imagine how many would be swanning around our house if we dared to bring a plant inside for the winter. The odd one already manages to squeeze itself in already. Doesn't help that I can't bring myself to kill them. Love the chewing gum art!

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  4. I’m an art lover but something about the idea of chewing gum art makes me squeamish.

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  5. For some reason, I can walk through a museum of painting and not tell you much of what I saw at the end, but I can pretty much remember every minute of every video I saw in the same museum. I guess my brains just registers those videos better.

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  6. The few pieces of African art I've seen locally, such as work by Chris Ofili, are stunning. I haven't seen any photography from the continent other than that by Western observers. High time to listen to what the people have to say. I'm glad there's a major show. I'm going to check online about it.

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  7. Sounds like you chose the right place to go/the right thing to do when you went to the Tate Modern. How cool!
    I suppose I might bring my Christmas tree in soon. It's the tiny one I bought at Publix last year. Or was it the year before? Still in the same pot, still with a few decorations on it. If that is not the height of laziness, I do not know what is.

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  8. That exhibit sounds fascinating, and I love that picture of St. Paul's in the sunset.
    The gum art is wonderful and whimsical and I'm glad it survived the cleaning.

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  9. That's an odd approach to dealing with old chewing gum! Kinda gross, but kinda neat.

    I'm looking forward to seeing the tree.

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  10. Painting other people’s nasty old gum is a little gross. But then I think chewing gum is a little gross.
    I brought in all my small tenders yesterday. The rest I’ll leave out till the first freeze is imminent.

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  11. I once read about the cost (in women/child hours) of the simple task of providing water in your home. The thing I remember most powerfully is that children were walking miles for water and hauling it back. They could not attend school because water was that important.

    We are a fortunate people.

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  12. The Tate exhibit sounds excellent. In this age, women still carrying water for everyday needs is a sobering reminder. Keeping the garden tidy is always a good feeling. We are finally done with holiday leftovers. Thank goodness.

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  13. Artwork like that reminds me of how very fortunate I am (and I'm even more fortunate than a lot of people even in the US since I'm a straight white person - my only pain point is being a woman). I try to remember to use my good fortune for good, but I'm definitely imperfect at it.

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  14. That piece about the African women carrying water makes it abundantly clear how fortunate we are and more importantly the huge role women play in society. Sadly too many people choose to ignore that role.

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  15. That sounds like an interesting exhibit. One of the main things I love about London is that there are so many options available for culture and entertainment and all are relatively easy to get to. (By that I mean no parking problems like here.)

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  16. I would love to see that exhibit. My older daughter and I went to an art museum in Dakar but it seemed like it was mostly pottery.

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  17. After seeing the comments on Ellen's blog about people having difficulties commenting on yours, I thought I'd stop by to see if I could. The answer is that I can -- at least, using Chrome. I'm glad I chose today to visit. I lived in West Africa for a time, working at a bush hospital, and water-carrying was as common as a first cup of coffee. Not only water gets carried, of course. The amount of stuff market women could put atop their heads and walk without losing a bit of it was astounding.

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  18. Interesting angle of photo of St Pauls as if there are no tall buildings near it. This is an illusion because there are many tall buildings that normally show to the rear and behind to the side.

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  19. I always remember the people carrying the water along the road when I was in Rwanda. It takes all day!

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  20. You know I read every post you write. Being a Brit you take me home on your walks, and I have told you before your cemetery photos are such a delight. Another delight is one of your regular commentators Ms Moon. I have been reading her through your comments daily now for ages. I have not been able to find a way to subscribe to her writings so thank you for being my liaison. Good wishes to you, Dave and of course the star of the blog, sweet Olga.

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  21. There are many excellent exhibitions like this that are missed. They should be seen.

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  22. Must take a look at that Tate show. there's so much interesting stuff coming out of the African continent. Did you see the V & A show on African Fashion a while back? It wasn't that large but it was mindblowing. And I am really THRILLED to know that some of the chewing gum art has been preserved. I once spent several hours on my hands and knee photographing it during lockdown. I had the bridge almost to myself!

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  23. that sounds like an interesting excursion. The Tate show sounds especially intriguing. I've heard about chewing gum art, never seen it. Well done on the saving!

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  24. GZ: Yes, it was very thought-provoking! And I was also glad to see the gum art saved.

    Mitchell: Yes, it has gotten chillier! Last December we had snow, as I recall.

    Margo: Oh, it happens here too. Occasionally I find one crawling across the floor and I throw it into a flower pot outside. (One I'm not going to bring in!)

    Don: Well, the gum is old and dry, and he sprays it with some kind of fixative once he's painted it. Whatever germs it may contain are quite dead, I'm guessing!

    Ed: Videos do make an impact, I agree, although some video art is so abstract it's practically gibberish.

    Boud: Yes, I was happy to see a show devoted to African photography. Not a sub-genre we ever hear much about.

    Ms Moon: Hey, it's not laziness, it's thriftiness! How great that you get to use the same tree every year!

    Bob: The gum art is quite amazing. I hope Ben Wilson takes photos of it all. He should publish a book.

    Kelly: I love the idea of turning someone's disgusting refuse into art.

    Ellen: Chewing gum IS kind of gross, I agree. I'm not a huge gum fan myself.

    Debby: We really are. When I lived in Morocco I saw this first-hand -- women going to wells to draw water and carry it back to their houses. Funny how it's ALWAYS women.

    Susan: We've pretty much finished ours, too. There's a smidgen of turkey left and some sweet potatoes, and Dave's spoon bread.

    Bug: Well, at least you don't use it for ill, like some people!

    Jim: Oh, from what I saw, life would grind to a halt in many parts of Africa (and the world) if not for women, who provide all the necessities of daily life -- water, food, cleanliness, you name it. The guys seem to hang out at cafes a lot!

    Sharon: I always feel like I don't take sufficient advantage of all the cultural opportunities!

    Margaret: Apparently photography in Africa is quite well established but it's usually portrait studios. Some of those portrait photographers have become famous.

    Shoreacres: I'm glad you can comment, and I'm glad you stopped by! Where in West Africa did you live? I traveled in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire after my years in the Peace Corps in Morocco. Yes, those market women are amazing!

    Rachel: Most of the tall buildings are in the "city" just to the right of the frame. There aren't any right around St. Paul's, at least not yet. I think the government has endeavored to protect that view of the dome.

    Ellen D: Yeah, depending on your water source, collecting water can be a daylong affair.

    Rosemary: Well, thank you for stopping by! You can always find Ms. Moon's blog, "Bless Our Hearts," in my sidebar (maybe that's what you already do). I believe Google has a "follow" function that ought to allow you to follow it, though I don't keep track of blogs that way myself. I just read them from my sidebar. Anyway, glad you're here and that I can give you regular glimpses of your homeland!

    Red: I agree! It really made me think about people and places and cultural perspectives that don't often cross my mind.

    Jenny: Oh, that would have been the perfect time to photograph the gum art! I had people practically walking over me every time I paused. I don't know whether the pieces that survived were intentionally preserved or whether the cleaning method simply didn't remove them.

    Jeanie: It's quite an innovative way to make art, if you can stomach it!

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  25. Yes I agree but many photos seem to show the buildings in the background, such as the blocks far off, as very tall. They do not show in your photo in this way. The are there, but low. It must have been the angle at which you took the photo. I agree about the buildings of the city being to the right. I frequently take this view when I visit the Tate Mod.

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