Latest news with #AidaMuluneh
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rachel Whiteread hits the countryside, Derby's great hero and museums reinvented – the week in art
Rachel WhitereadThe Sussex countryside is haunted by grey concrete ghosts and white mortuary slabs as Whiteread proves her vision is as melancholically powerful as ever. Goodwood Art Foundation, West Sussex, 31 May to 2 November V&A East Storehouse This enjoyable, utopian and generous reinvention of what a museum can be is an unmissable experience. Opens 31 May, admission free Hamad Butt: ApprehensionsOverdue retrospective of an artist who died young but left a body of uncanny, highly imaginative works. Whitechapel Art Gallery, from 4 June to 7 September Glenn Brown and Matthew Weir: The Sight of SomethingPaintings and drawings that drip with dream-like memories and peculiar fantasies fit for Freud's Museum, London, from 4 June to 19 October Leonardo Drew: Ubiquity II Sprawling, chaotic installation that looks like the aftermath of a hurricane. South London Gallery, until 7 September The Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh took a month-long road trip around the UK in a minivan, resulting in The Necessity of Seeing, 22 images that explore identity, gender and conflict. 'It was like getting a crash course in UK history and contemporary life,' she says. Read about the project and see more of her pictures in our interview with her Lauded photographer Sebastião Salgado died at 81 Australian women played a vital role in forging international modernism William Morris played a blinder with his football kit designs Two Somerset villages hosted a bite-sized biennale with global reach Black artist Tomashi Jackson explores how colour theory echoes discussions of race Bob King's theatre posters have helped turn shows into global hits The Goodwood Art Foundation's opening exhibition is a winning choice Sign up to Art Weekly Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions after newsletter promotion Cartoonist, illustrator, playwright and detective novelist Barry Fantoni has died Banksy posted a new lighthouse work thought to be in Marseille Erasmus by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1523 The theologian and classical scholar Erasmus, the most famous and influential thinker of the north European Renaissance, poses in his study with a gentle almost-smile. Holbein paints him, not as an idealised or formal figure, but with an immediacy that makes you feel Erasmus is right there, patiently keeping his head in the position the painter requires, tolerantly spending this time being depicted. It has the same sense of an actual encounter between artist and sitter that you get in Holbein's portrait drawings, especially his intimate studies of Thomas More and his family. That is no coincidence. Holbein knew Erasmus personally, not just professionally, when they both lived in Basel. When Holbein wanted to go to England, Erasmus wrote a letter of introduction to his friend More, who commissioned a family portrait on his recommendation. Holbein is often seen as a simple portraitist but this painting reveals him as part of an intellectual circle, mixing with More and Erasmus and influenced by their warm, witty humanism. National Gallery, London If you don't already receive our regular roundup of art and design news via email, please sign up here. If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Aïda Muluneh on capturing the UK's contradictions: ‘It's hard to imagine there are people going hungry'
Growing up, Aïda Muluneh moved around a lot. She was born in Ethiopia, but also lived in Yemen, Cyprus, Canada and, for a short time, England. There was a spell in Sunderland for about eight months when she was six: 'My mother was dating a guy from the UK,' she says. 'I have very distinct memories of England. I went to school briefly, but I didn't really speak any English. I remember the cold and the grey skies.' More than 40 years later, Muluneh returns to the UK, invited by Impressions Gallery to make new work across Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow for this year's UK City of Culture programme. Comprising 22 images, The Necessity of Seeing was made over a month-long road trip. She crammed all her equipment into two cars and a minivan, along with a mobile studio, painted backdrops and clothing brought over from Africa, and five core crew members. 'It was basically like getting a crash course in UK history and contemporary life,' says Muluneh. The resulting images explore themes such as gender, labour, religion and diaspora. Incorporating pieces of each city's architectural landmarks – from cathedrals and mosques to cotton mills and war memorials – Muluneh connects historic wounds with contemporary struggles. The decline of industry, the history of labour union movements, women's rights, and the exploitation of immigrants: in these images, as in reality, everything is connected. This work is now part of a touring exhibition, Nationhood: Memory and Hope, shown alongside A Portrait of Us, 15 black-and-white portraits of 'unsung heroes' in each city, made by Muluneh, as well as a presentation of seven emerging British photographers. Muluneh's journey around the UK required a lot of planning, as well as learning, talking and translating her reflections into art. 'Being prepared allows me to tap into another part of my mind,' she says. 'Along the way, I'd find other things I hadn't expected, just from simple conversations.' These conversations, as well as each city's unique social and urban fabric, make up all the layers of meaning in Muluneh's work. 'I'm creating my own universe within an existing reality and reshaping it to reflect how I was feeling at the time,' she says. The title, The Necessity of Seeing, is emblematic of the deep political awareness driving Muluneh's work. 'Growing up displaced has given me a kind of anger that fuels my work,' she says. 'I've always been drawn to communities dealing with division and cultural identity. My aim wasn't to come here and try to reflect something I don't fully understand. I can only reflect my experiences of trying to understand the complexity of the UK – what I saw, witnessed and felt.' What she felt most of all, Muluneh says, was division. 'But within that, everyone is facing the same challenges,' she says. 'I was looking at what women and children went through in the Industrial Revolution, while also thinking about slavery and colonial history. What I realised is that these shared histories have the potential to connect people, rather than divide them.' The Handmaid of Hunger, 2024 (main picture above)'For many of us in Africa, it's hard to imagine that a country like the UK has people going hungry. This image is a comment on that contradiction of being in a wealthy country, yet still seeing people who rely on food banks.' Reflections of the Seeker, 2024'I was fascinated by how visible and strong the Muslim culture is in Bradford,' says Muluneh. 'I heard a story from a woman whose daughter went to school there. She said her daughter felt really comfortable wearing a hijab, because no one stared at her. That really stayed with me.' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion The Edge of Tomorrow's Memory, 2024'This was shot in Bradford, but it speaks to Belfast, a city that felt like an open wound. The most striking things were the walls. You can still feel the trauma of recent history.' The Present Past, 2024'In Glasgow, there's a lot of architecture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He wasn't alive when this building [the House for an Art Lover cultural centre] was constructed but there's something powerful in interpreting someone's vision years later. This image plays with the idea of bringing the past into the present.' The Necessity of Seeing was commissioned by Bradford 2025 City of Culture and Impressions Gallery, with Belfast Exposed, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, and Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow; it is touring 5 June to 18 January.
