Amadou & Mariam & Brixton

Just came back from another great weekend in London. I had the pleasure of staying with a friend in Brixton, South London for a few days and I had a superb time there. We just wondered around a lot, going to the market and the arcades, marveling at all the goods and men selling dancehall cds from tiny alcoves, passing steel drum buskers and stopping for food frequently. We had some delicious oysters (served with raw onions, Tabasco and lemon) at a little restaurant in the (rapidly gentrifying) Brixton Village arcade. An elderly lady served me one of the best roti breads I've ever tasted from a blue caravan. She rolled it up with a filling of pumpkin and (sweet?) potato and plenty of chilli. It was so good I wanted to lock her in her caravan, drag it back home and park it in my back garden.

I was  stupid enough to leave my camera at home, so I had to rely on my phone to capture it all. Unfortunately this resulted in just a couple of crappy snapshots...

 

The whole reason of going down to London was to see Amadou & Mariam at Sheperd's Bush Empire. Which was absolutely FANTASTIC!! The couple - according to Wikipedia also known as "the blind couple from Mali" - has been making music together for over 30 years. Working with Manu Chao on their 2004 album Dimance a Bamako gave their career a real boost and propelled husband and wife into stardom. Their latest album Folila proves how popular they now are with the (Western) (indie) musicians as well, with contributions of Santigold, Theophilus London, the guy from the Scissor Sisters, and TV on the Radio, to name a few. Check out the latter on the video for their single Wily Kataso:

Renowned DJs  have often remixed songs by Amadou & Mariam and in 2010 an entire remix album was (digitally) released. This is remix by Uproot Andy is one of my favorites and used to be a tried and true staple in my DJ sets.

Amadou & Mariam - Salabi (Uproot Andy Remix). Download it here.

Live funk life drawing

(click to enlarge) 

At Troybar, London.

London on a shoestring

I love a bargain. I'm a bargain hunter. And finding a bargain in London is like finding the ultimate bargain, the bargain of bargains! The Indian YMCA, where I was taken to the for a meal last Sunday, is such a treasure. At first I thought it was just a wacky name for an Indian restaurant, but no, it turned out to be a real Y! It has been in London since 1920, to provide Indian students "a safe have, a home away from home".

We paid £6 to a lady in the foyer for a meal ticket and made our way to the dining hall, where no frills and unassuming were the only words that sprang to mind to describe it. As it was a Sunday they had a set meal, with just one dish (with a vegetarian version as well) on offer. Plus chutney, plus pappadams, plus dessert. As much as you'd like! There were jugs of water on the tables, or you could get a soft drink from the vending machine. Or bring your own bottle of wine (no corkage!). They are open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and during the week you can choose from various kinds of curries and dhals, all for bargain prices (mango lassi for a quid, 2.65 for a chicken or fish curry, 1.25 for a dhal for example). 

YMCA Indian Student Hostel, 41 Fitzroy Square, London, W1T 6AQ (nearest Tube stations: Great Portland Street, Warren Street, Goodge Street).

Interesting faces

Totally inspired by the Grayson Perry exhibition and replenished with tea and a scone from the cafe I started wondering through the rest of the British Museum. It truly is a treasure chest! I went downstairs to the African section first hoping to find out more about the masks I bought in a charity shop recently. Idle hope of course... But I did see a lot of other interesting faces!

 

 

∧ Don't these African masks remind you of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland?! 

  

 

 ∧ Love Assyrian beards!

 ∧ The Etruscans also did nice beards. ∨

 

 

 ∧ Brrr.. F.R.E.A.K.Y.!

The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman

As soon as I set foot on London soil this last Friday, I hurried myself to the British Museum for the Grayson Perry exhibition The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman. What a joy it was!  

Perry curated his own show, displaying new as well as older works next to artifacts that he had picked from the British Museum's vast collection (it contains 8 million objects!). I know the man mainly for his ceramics: vases on which he makes beautiful drawings and collages. But I loved seeing works in other media here. I love the themes in his work like shrines, magic, maps, 'scary figures', gender, authenticity ("I love fakes for they make us think about what is is we see in the authentic") and craftsmanship itself. I love how he draws from folklore and outsider art, and mixes tradition with the contemporary. I also love the fact that he talks about his art in a pretty straight forward, unpretentious way and the way he sees himself as an artist: 

"Part of my role as an artist is similar to that of a shaman or witch doctor. I dress up, I tell stories, give things meaning and make them a bit more significant. Like religion this is not a rational process, I use my intuition (...)"

As you can tell by my multiple use of the word LOVE I really LOVED this show and I urge you to go and see it if you have the chance!! It's on until 19th February 2012.

∧ The Rosetta Vase.

∧ detail of  The Rosetta Vase. 

 

∧ The Frivolous Now.

He made the sketch for this vase the evening before decorating it by doodling away in front of the telly. 

∧ A dish from c. 1700. You can see where he gets his mustard.

 

 ∧ One of the most impressive pieces was this immense tapestry (almost 3 x 7 meters),
depicting religious and secular pilgrimage destinations.

∧ Perry went on a pilgrimage himself, to Germany, on this motor cycle, with on the back seat his 50-year-old teddybear Alan Measles (“the benign dictator of my childhood imaginary world”). 

 

 

∧ He made sort of a pope-mobile construction for Alan. The bike is on display at the British Museum, but the teddy is a replica. The real Alan is far too precious to be displayed! 

 

∧ Inspired by pilgrimage tokens/souvenirs Perry designed one for his and Alan's own pilgrimage. Several tokens were on display including this contemporary one from Japan:

"Perhaps more than any other object this hand towel embodies the spirit of this exhibition. It is fitting that it comes from Japan, a country that seems to have a remarkable ability to blend ancient traditions with modern technology and popular culture. Two Hello Kitty characters, created for merchandising in 1974, are dressed as traditional Japanese pilgrims (o-henro-san) in white robes, sticks and straw hats. This towel was sold as a souvenir on the island of Shikoku, famous for its 1200 km pilgrimage route taking in 88 Buddhist temples. So here we have an object featuring modern cartoon characters and a ritual dating back to the 18th century AD coming together on an object carried in most Japanese women's handbags."