Visiting Dubai

I was fortunate to be able to visit Dubai during May and took the opportunity to visit the souks. Having toyed with the idea of using silks for some of the scarves I intended to create, the textile souks seemed like the perfect place to purchase some fabric. Exploring the souks in the blistering heat took stamina but the rewards were well worth it; the fabrics, prints and patterns were bold and exotic but I managed to seek out some plain silks at just 30 dirhums as yard (about £5) so I bought both white and a beautiful silvery grey.

Fashion and Textile Museum: Artist Textiles

After the Design Museum we stumbled upon signs to the Fashion and Textile Museum which seemed well worth a visit whilst in the vicinity. As this stage I was feeling quite uninspired/unmotivated with my college work, visiting exhibitions really helped to re-spark my enthusiasm.
The main works to view at the museum were in the exhibition 'Artist Textiles - Picasso to Warhol: There were some wonderful prints shown as large pieces of fabric, scarves and garments. I was inspired by the printed scarves in particular. I feel scarves could link nicely with my work and provide a beautiful floaty canvas (if I use silk) to show my designs.

Hello my name is Paul Smith

Trip to London:
The main reason to visit London was to see the Paul Smith exhibition 'Hello, My Name is Paul Smith' at the London Design Museum. Whilst there, the 'Designer of the Year 2014' was also showing. This exhibition show cased innovative designs from 7 categories which intend to benefit life by making it easier, safer and more stimulating. A very intriguing exhibition.



I absolutely loved the Paul Smith exhibition, it was and insightful look into his world. We were shown his office, shops, fashion shows, collaborations, the studio, his personal art collections, inside his mind and much more. I found the imitated studio space particularly inspiring, showing work in progress with a variety of books, magazines, yarns and fabrics.

Fashion in motion: Meadham Kirchhoff

The entire room full of fashion enthusiasts, the tension built as we took our seats and waited for the show to commence. The outfits were breath taking, with such an array of thrills and bows with excruciating attention to detail, bold colours and sparkling skirts reminding me of my dressing up box as a child. This was the first fashion show I had attended, although I had seen them on T.V and on the internet, I hadn't realised how much of a performance they can be. 
Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff are a design duo beased in London. The duo met whilst studying fashion at Central Saint Martins, Edward studying womenswear and Benjamin menswear. Shortly after graduating they launched a menswear label "Benjamin Kirchhoff" but have since been working as "Meadham Kirchhoff" formed in 2002.
 Included in the fashion show were garments from collections Suddenly, Last Summer (S/S2011) and A Rebours(A/W2010) featuring flowing gothic dresses overlaid with floral painted biker jackets and colourful veils.

Benjamin Kirchhoff said; ‘We are very pleased to be involved with the V&A’s Fashion in Motion series. When approaching every collection or garment we secretly hope to make something worthy of being seen in a museum, so for us it is an honour to present a show comprised of hand-picked pieces from our favourite collections."

Oriole Cullen, Fashion in Motion curator, said:

"Meadham Kirchhoff are known for creating a fantasy world in their collections through their beautifully crafted garments and focus on fine detail. Their shows always contain an element of surprise and wonder, often with a hint of darkness and we are delighted to have the opportunity to bring this experience to V&A audience"

Below are a few photos I took to capture the event:

http://www.meadhamkirchhoff.com/

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake

After my meeting with Lez Brotherston I hurried to the theatre next door to join family and friends eagerly awaiting the performance to begin. The lights went down and the familiar sound of Tchaikovsky's music enveloped the auditorium, whispering into the ears of the audience as the atmosphere built. The curtains opened to reveal the prince's bedroom, the performance is captivating us from the beginning and throughout, using comedy, costumes, and of course the beautiful dancing to hold our attention. Matthew's dancers all have extensive characterisation skills to compliment their dancing. This enables them to connect to the audience on a much higher emotional level, it isn't uncommon to have a lump in your throat during a Bourne production. 

Bourne's version of the classic swan lake is probably most famous for his exchange of the female corps de ballet, with an all male cast of swans. When I was young I couldn't understand why anyone would want to change anything about the ballet, but since growing up around dance and working with innovative choreographers, gaining a wider understanding of dance, narratives and life, I couldn't see the ballet any other way.

Matthew once said "The idea of a male swan makes complete sense to me, the strength, the beauty, the enormous wingspan of these creatures suggests to me the musculature of a male dancer more readily than a ballerina in her white tutu."

I think the choreography enables the story to work with all male swans, expressing love and seduction in a way that is understandable, and leads the audience to feel empathy for the characters and their struggle to be together. Although I have seen the performance many times, my favourite scene remains to be the cygnets, each time the choreography is slightly different, but always intriguing and quite comical. I like that Matthew has chosen to incorporate this traditional section of the ballet, using his own twist and array of funny walks, bum wiggles and swan characteristics opposed to the endless pas de chats of the original. Overall the ballet is utterly breath taking, mixing just the right amount of comedy with seriousness, you find yourself believing the dancers and seeing them as beautiful swans instead of performers. I would recommend a Matthew Bourne production to anyone, even those who wouldn't usually see a dance show, for everything including the amazing sets and costumes, paired with the wonderful music, however this particular show will always be a favourite of mine, and many others who have seen it.

http://www.new-adventures.net/productions/swan_lake

Shunga at The British Museum

On Tuesday the 10th of December, the printing and painting departments of the course organised a trip to The British Museum in London to see the Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art exhibition. We met at Victoria station ready to take the tube and make our way to the museum, where we purchased our tickets and went straight into the exhibition. 

Most of the work was produced between the 1600's and 1900's and was banned in Japan over most of the 20th century. The erotic art is very explicit and detailed, but incorporates skilled techniques resulting in some beautiful outcomes, which are said to have inspired many famous artists such as Toulouse Lautrec and Picasso.

The majority of the work was created by artists of ukiyo-e or "floating world" school, the popular work became known as shunga which means "spring pictures". For almost 300 years men and women enjoyed the work, which was often tender and humourous, often used as manuals by newly weds, or just general art of beautiful coloured prints and paintings. Explicit works were produced by iconic artists like Utamaro, Hokusai and Kunisada.

Throughout Japan, shungha has been a huge influence of modern art and the innovation of print and painting including manga, anime and tattoo art. The exhibition is very revealing to old Japanese art, including how it is bound in books and scrolls as well as the social and cultural history. Another point of interest in the exhibition was the traditional kimonos and dresses with their unique prints and designs all incredibly detailed, it would have been nice if there were more to look at.

After we had seen everything we left the museum and took to the streets of Soho in search of pubs and restaurants, overall an interesting day of art and pubs.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/shunga.aspx