A fascinating and somewhat surreal event. The explorer Kitin Muñoz and a group of Aimara Indians have set up camp on the beach at the base of the luxurious Hotel Arts in the Olympic Port. They have begun work there on the ‘Mata Rangi’, a 20-metre boat made entirely out of bamboo and rushes. The plan is to finish the craft by October 15 and then set sail for the Americas, following Columbus’ route. The project is sponsored in part by National Geographic and the work site includes a detailed exhibition of other voyages made in similar craft, most notably by the explorer Thor Heyerdahl.
April 29, 2009
April 28, 2009
Introduction to Kabuki
Of all the mysterious arts of the orient, Kabuki is one of the most difficult to grasp. Totally separate from the western realist tradition, for the first-time viewer it seems to consist of nothing more than a group of men – there are no females allowed – striking poses and being applauded. This laudable workshop, with simultaneous English translation, is an attempt to explain what all the fuss is about and lead you to an appreciation of this most alien of theatrical forms.
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April 16, 2009
American Pictures 1961-1967: Photographs by Dennis Hopper
Throughout the 1960s, actor Dennis Hopper chronicled the world around him in black-and-white photographs. Long before ‘Easyrider’ – the influential 1969 film classic he both directed and starred in – Hopper was bringing his intensity and eye for detail to the art world. His photos have been displayed at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art and the Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland. They range from prints of graffiti covered walls to those that reveal the complex personalities behind pop culture icons like Andy Warhol or thinkers like Martin Luther King and Timothy Leary. All together, they make for a powerful show.
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April 2, 2009
Cassandra Wilson + Cesaria Evora
Cassandra Wilson is an extremely versatile jazz diva who has aimed to revive the soulful tradition of Billie Holliday and Nina Simone. Her solo career as a Blue Note artist has seen her relentlessly exploring the roots of jazz, her most recent album ‘Travelling Miles’ being a critically-acclaimed tribute to Miles Davis. Cesaria Evora started life as a domestic servant in the former West African former Portuguese Colony of Cabo Verde, and she still performs barefooted. Her celestial, fado-inflected melancholy ballads have entranced audiences around the world. If the chemistry is there, this collaboration could be memorable.
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