David Bowie at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) East Storehouse
Its a journey to the V&A East Storehouse (aka the V&A Annex) from the part of London where I am based. The Annex is located not too far from the Olympic Stadium in East London that is now the home to the West Ham Football Club. This part of the Borough of Hackney is largely filled with new buildings constructed since the last London Olympics. The David Bowie Centre is the home for David Bowie’s archive. I understand that the exxhibit will be a rotating one showing the huge quantity of Bowie costumes, photos, mass media, music, and memorabilia.
After entering the centre, you will see a display of Bowie albums and magazines featuring him.
Next you enter a large rectangular space that includes a huge screen playing Bowie videos. On all sides are display cases of memorabilia.
The whole Bowie experience is condensed in a small space that is still overwhelming to the visitor. The expanse of his career and influence is displayed. There is also a study center adjacent to the exhibit space and a section where museum experts can be seen working and curating the huge collection.
A Taste of the Rest of the V&A East Annex
The Annex is huge “working museum” and serves as a place to store and curate the museum’s huge collection of items that are not currently on display at the V&A in South Kensington, London. As one walks the floors of this building, one sees items like these.
Part of a carved ornate celing from Torrijos, Spain
It is amazing to imagine all of these pieces on display in the main museum. The museum’s collection is rotated from time to time.
Trees
I am obsessed with the huge and mighty trees in two parks near my London abode. There is something very special about sitting under them and enjoying the peace they bring in the middle of a bustling city.
My friend Tom who is bravely living with Parkinson’s has often urged me to visit this small but interesting gallery in the Aldgate area of London. The current exhibit was titled “Hamad Butt: Apprehensions.” The exhibit included three installations Butt created, as well as a series of drawings and paintings he created during his short career. He died at 32 in 1994 from complications of AIDS.
As the exhibit began, it included a discussion of the AIDs crisis as a historical evevent of the 1980s and 90s. It was strange for me to read of the events as a part of history that many alive today cannot recall. Butt, chose a conceptual rather than an activist approach to respond to the crisis.
The exhibit began with three istallations pictured below.
These three sculptures are called “Familiars.” They take three hallogens: bromine as liquid, iodine as solid crystals and chlorine as gas. They threaten the environment if released, symbolicly representing AIDS as it was perceived in the early days.
Much of his later work was untitled. Below are some examples.
I guess that I can say I left the exhibit saddened that so much artistic talent was lost to a disease that seemed to come out of nowhere and caused so much human destruction. In the artists work one can see so much passion, so much possibility
I am also reminded of the activism of those affected either directly or indirectly by HIV and AIDS. I wonder where that kind of courage has gone in our current world. We need to remember that the way to stop a scourge is to fight, to stick together and to work to save what is important as those who crusaded to find a cure for AIDS did.
Doggy Day Afternoon
After such a poignant topic, I turn now to a joyful one. Each September, the Brunswick Centre, a brutalist monument to the architecture of the 1960s that includes apartments and a shopping centre, holds “Doggy Day” where dogs and their people come in droves to see and be seen and to win prizes. This is one of my favorite events of my time in London. I have collected photos of some of my favorites. Indulge me.
Italian Greyound I fell in love with this one.These were the winners, my favorite was among them.
September in Bloomsbury
I took a stroll through two local parks today, the ones in Russell Square and neighboring Brunswick Square. There were so many late blooming flowers that I thought I should capture them.
With the London Underground on strike most of this week, I shall be looking for different kinds of adventures. I’ll let you all know if I find some.
Let’s get the bride out of the way first. I was leaving my flat late one morning and was surprised to see a bride and groom (or perhaps two actors playing bride and groom, leaving a townhouse down the road.
Two Good To Be True
I like to mention the local shops and restaurants that give friendly service in Bloomsbury and Kings Cross, the neighborhoods that my current flat is bordered by. I have had several very nice encounters with the staff of “La Dolce London,” a charming cafe just a brief walk from my flat. Their coffee and other offerings, as well as their customer service are all excellent. As you will see below they also have some clever decorating.
Pole disguised as a tree.They always have a smile and kind word for patrons. Stop in on Marchmont Street if you get the chance.
Ancient India-Living Traditions
The second good thing is the exhibit at the British Museum that looks at devotional art of three religions that have their roots in India-Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism. The period considered was 200 BC to 600 AD. It begins with a representation of an important figure from each faith tradition.
The BuddhaGaneshaA Tirthinkara
For those of us unfamiliar with the depth and intertwining of the three faiths, it is interesting to learn, for example, that Ganesha is a god revered by some in all three faiths, though primarily a Hindu god. A Tirthinkara is an enightened leader in Jainism. This figure looks something like a Buddha but has an an endless knot symbol in the middle of his chest.
Male Yaksha and Female Yakshi Nature Spirits
These ancient spirits were adopted by all three faiths and many Yakshis were given male consorts when they were adopted by the three faiths.
Vishnu and Shiva
These two are recognized as principal deities in Hinduism. As you will see below, Vishnu is represented in human form here while Shiva in a symbolic form.
This exhibit opens the door and the mind of those of us who are mostly unfamiliar with the traditions associated with the three faiths. I hope this small introduction may lead you into further exploration.
We Must Never Forget Evil and We Must Forgive
This is what i took away from my most recent visit to the Weiner Holocaust Library. It’s current exhibit, “Looted to Families, Nazi Theft and the Search for Restitution,” teach the lessons of never forgetting history and learning, through forgiveness. This was the story of the Wertheimer and Keitenhauser families. The Wertheimers were a Jewish family, the Keitenhausers were Austrians with a strong connection to the Nazi Party in Austria after the Anschluss.
The Wertheimer family were forced to sell their properties at a vastly reduced price. They could take very little with them. The Keitenhausers prospered with the head of the family, Josef,a Nazi Party member had responsibilities, including spying on his neighbors. He also secured a position as Head Teacher (principal, in US terms), replacing a man who was not a party member. As happened throughout Germany, Austria and all the Nazi occupied countries, the Wertheimer’s posessions that were left behind and looted by neighbors and among those posessions was a table that made it’s way to the Keitenhausers.
Auschwitz transfer list. A member of the Wertheimer family was on this list. None of these people survived.
Many years after the war, in the 2000s, Katherina Mayrhofer, an Austrian artist and great granddaughter of Josef Kaltenhauser Sr, found a table in the attic of the family home. She discovered the table was an item looted from the Wertheimers. She contacted Diana Jelinek, a Wertheimer descendant and her daughter, British artist Emily Davy. The two artists restored the table and had a new key cut for it.
The two artists restored these skirts from the pre-war era.
Handmade keepsake box belonging to Josef Kaitenhauser Sr.
If I could recommend one small exhbit space to everyone who visits London, it would be this small gallery at the Weiner Holocaust Library. Each exhibit reminds us of how Europe descended into madness and attempted genocide. But we are also reminded to be ever vigilant with our liberty and freedoms.
A Bit of Nature to Conclude
As I walked back from the Weiner Library, my mood was lifted by this view of the Kimpton Fitzroy Hotel through the ancient trees in Russell Square.
This post takes us to the Tate Britain and Craven Cottage
A Visit to the Tate Britain
I used to view the Tate Britain as the stodgy older sibling of the Tate Modern and the other Tate galleries around Britain. But in recent year what I have experienced in my visits have changed that view.
Edward Burra
This retrospective of 20th Century English artist Edward Burra focuses on his interest in experiencing society and culture abroad. We see satire, whimsy and color in his works that pull you into the places he painted.
Delightfully, the exhibition included music that could be played as one experienced these wonderful images.
I left this exhibition feeling uplifted by the experience of seeing these works. I had little idea of what was to follow.
Requiem- Chris Ofili
The fire at the 24 story Grenfell Tower in June 2017 took 72 lives and displaced hundreds. It was caused by a refrigerator fire on a lower floor and made worse by flammable cladding that had been placed on the exterior of the building. Confusing guidance to residents about whether to evacuate the building in a timely manner was also a problem. The main stairway in the Tate Britain now has a monumental work honoring an artist who died in the fire and all those who perished Because of its location in a starewell, it was difficult to capture its beauty and grandeur,
Ithel Colquhoun
Finally, I visited another exhibit of the works of another 20th Century British painter, Ithel Colquhoun who is described as a painter occultist, poet and author. Her works are an interesting blend of figures, symbols, and color. I was particularly taken by the last one I show, below, ‘Death of thede Virgin.’ I have seen death bed paintings by several artists in recent years. My immediate thought was of Edvard Munch’s “The Sick Child.’ But upon reflection, I can think of several more. It is the gift of visiting so many exhibitions focusing on different artists and cultures that allow me to appreciate these types of similarities in universal themes. I also was pleased to find an exhibit docent who had the time to discuss this subject with me.
Back to Craven Cottage
Many of my friends know that I have been a fan of Fulham Football Club for some years now. I was lucky to buy a ticket for Fulham’s home opener against the once mighty Manchester United. The match was exciting, including a controversial Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision. Ultimately, the final score was 1-1, but it had been a beautiful afternoon.
Billy the BadgerJoachim AndersenSander Berge, Sasa Lukic
What a great sport!
Next blog, coming soon about my latest wander around Covent Garden!
