Natalia Goncharova at Tate Modern

You will be able to visit the Natalia Goncharova exhibition at Tate Modern until 8th September 2019 and experience not just some spectacular art but also learn about early 20th century European history. This exhibition gives you an insight into Russia at the start if the 20th century, World War I emotions and alliances, as well as Russian literature, culture and religion.

What is incredible about Natalia Goncharova is her celebration of ‘everythingism’.  ‘Everythingism’ – vsechestvo in Russian – sums up Goncharova’s artistic approach. Her work combined diverse techniques and styles including painting, print, theatre design, fashion, cinema, interior design, book illustrations and performance art. She also adapted forms of her paintings and theatre designs for stencil prints, posters and lithographs. It makes you imagine a woman who just wants to enjoy art and experiment, not feeling like she is in a straitjacket to only create one style.

The subjects of her art range from still life to nudes, from peasant scenes to abstractions, from futurist landscapes to depictions of the Apocalypse.

For the RS student there were numerous art works which showed the archangels, for example Archangel Michael…

and saints too, like this one of St Luke:

This is one of those exhibitions where you can enjoy the beauty of art, learn about modern European History and find out more about Christianity for Religious Studies.

Complex Geometry which started in the 8th century CE

In Islamic culture, geometric design is everywhere: you can find it in mosques, palaces, and private homes.

As the month of Ramadan begins and Muslims around the world start practising the Pillar of Islam called Sawm, it is a timely moment to celebrate the geometric beauty found in Islamic art. For centuries, the only way to create polygons and required angles was to use a compass and straight edge. With so few tools you can understand why Islamic geometrical patterns begin with the starting point of a circle to keep things simple. Some researchers think that the use of the circle is a way of expressing the Unity of Islam.  The idea is that the circle and its centre is the point at which all Islamic patterns begin; the circle is a symbol of a religion that emphasizes One God (Tawhid) and the role of Makkah, which is the centre of Islam toward which all Muslims face in prayer (Salah/Salat).

Most Islamic geometrical patterns are based on constructive polygons, such as the hexagon and octagon. Star polygons, which are fundamental elements of Islamic geometrical patterns, are created by connecting the vertices of constructive polygons. You can watch an interesting 5 minute video from Ted-Ed which explains the complex geometry of Islam with some glorious video footage and explanation of the Islam’s industrious mathematical past.

The Miraculous Journey

‘The Miraculous Journey’ (2005 – 2013) consists of fourteen large-scale bronze sculptures that chart the gestation of a foetus from conception to birth. This impressive art work is by controversial British artist Damien Hirst. It can be found outside the new Sidra Medical and Research Centre in Doha, Qatar.

‘The Miraculous Journey‘ begins with the fertilization of an egg and ends with a fully formed baby. The huge bronze figures range from 5 to 11 metres in height and the whole structure weighs 216 metric tonnes. They were individually cast in over 500 panels at Pangolin Foundry in the UK before being transported to Qatar.

Hirst explains that the work came from, “a desire to create something monumental, whilst essentially human.” He states: “Ultimately, the journey a baby goes through before birth is bigger than anything it will experience in its human life. I hope the sculpture will instill in the viewer a sense of awe and wonder at this extraordinary human process, which will soon be occurring in the Sidra Medical Center, as well as every second all across the globe.”

Sheikha al Mayassa Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairwoman of the Qatar Museums Authority who commissioned the work, made the point to the New York Times: “To have something like this is less daring than having a lot of nudity. There is a verse in the Qur’an about the miracle of birth. It is not against our culture or our religion.” In the Qur’an it says, [We] then formed the drop into a clot and formed the clot into a lump and formed the lump into bones and clothed the bones in flesh; and then brought him into being as another creature. Blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators! (Qur’an, 23:14).

This really interesting artwork which teaches people about the incredible nature of human development from conception, embryo, foetus and birth  links to what we learn in PSHCE about pregnancy and also what we study in RS classes about  Islam and abortion.  The main fact to remember is that it is rarely permitted after 120 days. Muslims regard abortion as wrong and haram (forbidden), but many accept that it may be permitted in certain cases.

As with most moral debates, a religion like Islam will have a variety of viewpoints. All schools of Muslim law accept that abortion is permitted if continuing the pregnancy would put the mother’s life in real danger. This is the only reason accepted for abortion after 120 days of the pregnancy.  Different schools of Muslim law hold different views on whether any other reasons for abortion are permitted, and at what stage of pregnancy if so. Some schools of Muslim law permit abortion in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, while others only permit it in the first 7 weeks. However, even those scholars who would permit early abortion in certain cases still regard abortion as wrong, but do not regard it as a punishable wrong.

The Qur’an does not explicitly refer to abortion but offers guidance on related matters.

We’re going on a bee hunt!

On Monday the Bee in the City art trail which consists of 101 bee sculptures was unveiled to the public. Local artists have done a unique design for each one and at the end of the project all the bees will be auctioned off for the Lord Mayor’s We Love MCR charity. People have been heading out onto the streets of Manchester to spot the bees, sending their photographs in to the Manchester Evening News.

This bee is called The Love Bee and was created by Nisha Grover. The faith symbols along the bottom represent Manchester’s commitment to standing together, united by love and the belief in the goodness of people.

Why not head to Manchester and get searching; the trail will be in place until September 23rd.

Learn about the Grim Realities of the USSR

Take a trip to London’s Tate Modern before January 28th 2018 and you’ll be able to enjoy the ironic art of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov as well as finding out some history facts about the Russia and the USSR. The Guardian describes the art as tragicomic and for a 9 year old there needed to be a lot of explaining but for a teenager who’s learnt a little about the USSR from history lessons it will all make pretty decent sense.

We really liked the man who flew into space from his apartment with all its propaganda posters on the walls. That feeling of utter desperation and the desire to escape had forced the apartment’s occupant to create a contraption so he’d be able to catapult himself through the ceiling.

Room Ten of the exhibition focuses on the Kabakov’s interest in angels. There was a little wooden model..

As well as the written explanation of How to Meet an Angel…

You left knowing that they’ve also tried it on a larger scale…

People believe in angels as a paranormal possibility, as well as in Christianity and Islam. Looking at the Kabakov’s artwork it just made you realise that people need the idea of angels coming to their aid and assistance in moment’s of individual unique need.

Tate Modern knows how to show installation art, with room and room housing thought provoking art. In a few days the exhibition Red Star Over Russia will also start, making Tate Modern the place to visit for students wanting an insight into Russia and the Soviet Union from 1905.

 

 

 

Obituary for David Shepherd

Told by Slade School of Art in London that he had no artistic talent didn’t stop David Shepherd from being able to raise more than £8m for wildlife conservation by donating the proceeds from the sales of his painting to charities such as the World Wildlife Fund. Later in his life, in 1984, he set up the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation which campaigned to protect endangered species, and combat poaching and its trade.

His paintings, whether they be of large animals or huge locomotives, showed the subject facing down the audience, bold and large. In 1970 the BBC made a documentary about him called The Man who Loved Giants.

In 2011 he launched a social media campaign to save the tiger in the wild, TigerTime.

“Man is the most stupid, arrogant and dangerous animal on Earth,” he said. “Every hour we destroy a species to extinction, and unless we start doing something about that very quickly, we are going to self-destruct.”

Soul of a Nation

Soul of a Nation a new art exhibition at Tate Modern art gallery in London examines what it meant to be black and an artist during the civil rights movement, from 1963 – when the idea of black power was emerging in the USA – through to 1983. As you arrive in the first room you are met with the audio of Martin Luther King‘s ‘I have a dream’ speech. It is the first time a lot of the art has been in displayed in the UK. For anybody interested in the history of the civil rights movement or how we are striving for racial harmony, then this is an art exhibition not to be missed, Channel 4 agree.

Banksy Bethlehem Hotel

The Walled Off Hotel by Banksy in Bethlehem is certainly artwork with a political message. Its owner says it has “the worst view of any hotel in the world”, while its 10 rooms get just 25 minutes of direct sunlight a day. Why? Well it is placed right next to the 8 metre high concrete wall which Israel has built to defend itself from terrorism and refugees. Sound familiar?

The hotel opens to guests on 20 March, with bookings via the website. The media have swooped in to report on the hotel, with Channel 4 going for a tour around the rooms

. The team hope Israelis, who rarely see the barrier wall up close or visit Palestinian towns, will be among the guests, even though visiting means breaking the law. Israelis are banned from visiting Bethlehem and its holy sites, and even though the hotel is situated in an Israeli controlled spot, it is surrounded by Palestinian controlled territory.

“I would like to invite everyone to come here, invite Israeli civilians to come visit us here,” said manager Wisam Salsaa. “We want them to learn more about us, because when they know us it will break down the stereotypes and things will change.”

In Year 9 we have done a unit on war and conflict, questioning whether religion is dangerous, as well as a current unit on Pilgrimage which looks into the importance of Jerusalem for Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This has lead us to briefly study the Arab Israeli conflict and how Palestine and Israel interact. Newsround give a brief and simple background to the conflict, whereas there is also a BBC History page which catalogues the events from 1250 BC to the modern day. If you’d rather watch a video then VOX have a 10 minute quick run through of how the conflict arose, and in a similar fashion CrashCourse History have 13 minute video explaining the conflict.

If all this has peaked your interest in Banksy then:

• trailer for Exit Through the Gift Shop which is a Banksy film
• Banksy’s 10 most amazing works of art (according to this YouTube video author)
• More of Banksy’s 10 most amazing work of art 
• One Day in Dismaland  – Banksy’s Bemusement Park
• Planning a visit to London you can search out for the best street art

Exhibitions in the UK in 2017 to help you learn

Our school is perfectly poised on the outskirts of Greater London to take advantage of some superb exhibitions which are lined up for 2017. It is often the case that you can go to an art exhibition and whilst enjoying the beauty of art you can pick up numerous facts about History, Geography, Sociology and Religious Studies.

• At the Bodleian Library in Oxford the Volcanoes exhibition sounds fantastic. It starts on 10th February and runs through to March.
• Also from mid-February is the Royal Academy in London’s Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932.  From the art gallery’s website it says: This far-ranging exhibition will – for the first time – survey the entire artistic landscape of post-Revolutionary Russia, encompassing Kandinsky’s boldly innovative compositions, the dynamic abstractions of Malevich and the Suprematists, and the emergence of Socialist Realism, which would come to define Communist art as the only style accepted by the regime. We will also include photography, sculpture, filmmaking by pioneers such as Eisenstein, and evocative propaganda posters from what was a golden era for graphic design. The human experience will be brought to life with a full-scale recreation of an apartment designed for communal living, and with everyday objects ranging from ration coupons and textiles to brilliantly original Soviet porcelain. That is History on a plate for you!
• Turning its attention to the other Cold War power is the British Museum’s American Dream. The exhibition looks at American art in prints but also opens our eyes to American history from JFK to Trump.
• In 1967 homosexuality was decriminalised in England (i.e. it stopped being against the law to have gay relationships, at first over the age of 21, but over the years it’s been brought in line with heterosexual sexual relationships at 16). So this year at Tate Britain there is an exhibition called Queer British Art 1861-1967 which follows changing definitions and attitudes to sexuality and gender, stories of repression and of celebration. The exhibition starts in April during the school’s Easter holidays.

Now these are all special exhibitions where you often have to pay to visit. However for a cheaper day out you can visit London’s art galleries and museums mostly for no cost, and visit their permanent exhibitions.

• The National Art Gallery which is on Leicester Square has lots of paintings about Bible stories in the Sainsbury’s wing Level 2.
• The Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington (close to the Natural History Museum) has a permanent exhibition about the Islamic Middle East in Room 42, and you can learn a lot about Christianity from the Medieval and  Renaissance exhibitions. Not to be missed at the V&A for Religious Studies learning are the Raphael Cartoons in the cavernous Room 48a as well as the Cast Courts in Rooms 46a and 46b. A top tip for the V&A is to keep asking the staff the directions to specific rooms as it is a warren of art and exhibits.

Year 9 students will recognise this Raphael cartoon:

Syria’s Banksy

A Syrian rebel fighter has been likened to Banksy for his politically motivated street art around Syria. The artist Abu Malik al-Shami has created some striking wall murals which send a strong political message.

This one made me remember talking about agape with Year 10 students…

What’s your interpretation?

‘Man Engine’ the Miner Puppet

Above is the Man Engine setting off from Tavistock in Devon.

When the second series of Poldark starts on BBC 1 this September you will once again catch a glimpse of the old Cornish mines dotted along the coastline.

Over the summer there is a ‘Man Engine’ clambering his way across from Tavistock in Devon to the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site in Cornwall to celebrate it’s 10th birthday as a UNESCO heritage site.

 Watch a short video clip about Engine Man.

You can learn huge amounts from how Cornwall went from being a mining powerhouse, to how the industry died and how the region has developed since then. Moreover there is lots to learn about geology, rocks, minerals, infrastructure development and technological advances to mining. A great place to visit for anybody interested in Humanities.