Life

The artists around the world to watch right now 

July 22, 2017

Grammy and academy award winner A R Rahman is releasing a musical concert movie worldwide onAugust 25. The movie, called One Heart, would feature his fifteen most loved and popular songs. The film also features the Mozart of Madras up close through an in-depth interview and unseen personal clips, according to his team. A two minute promotional video of the film has already created a buzz on social media. His fans call it stunning. It shows him in multiple locations including concerts, beach and a garden like ambience. A statement also adds, in the film A R shares his thoughts “performing on stage, how he came to choose the band that toured with him in 14 cities in America and the humility he feels when armies of his fans shower love on him.” One Heart is a concert film featuring 15 most-loved and popular songs by A R Rahman. The proceeds from the movie will go to Rahman’s One Heart foundation to help old musicians and their families.

Marlborough Fine Art in London will showcase a retrospective of celebrated Scottish painter Steven Campbell (1953-2007). The show consists of a selection of works made between 1983 and his untimely death in 2007.

Singer Angélique Kidjo and eight of Benin’s other music artists are urging parents to not marry off their young daughters in a new music video created by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Other artists signing include Danialou Sagbohan, Kalamoulaï, Don Métok, Sessimè, Dibi Dobo, Norberka and Olga Vigouroux. “We need all the strength and weapons we can muster to fight the scourge of child marriage. Art, especially music, is a powerful weapon,” said Claudes Kamenga, UNICEF Representative in Benin.“A little girl is still a child. She cannot be a mother or a bride. Let her grow up to live a fulfilling life. Say NO to child marriage,” sings Ms. Kidjo, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, along with UNICEF national Goodwill Ambassador Zeynab Abib, and a number of other stars. In Benin, one in ten girls is married under the age of 15 and three out of ten girls are married before they are 18 years old, according to UN figures. These girls are among the 250 million around the world forced into marriage before their eighteenth birthdays. The song is part of the national Zero Tolerance Campaign against child marriage, launched by the Government of Benin on 16 June, which is the International Day of the African Child.

Tashkeel’s annual summer showcase, Made in Tashkeel, is a display of works by its members, workshop participants and recent exhibiting artists. Featuring work by more than 30 participants, the exhibition encompasses artwork utilizing a wide variety of media, including traditional printmaking, illustrations, photography, jewelry, and video. Over 30 participants exhibiting works in the 9th edition of Made in Tashkeel. For the first time, Tashkeel is selling a range of products with hand-printed artworks by Tashkeel members, including laptop bags, aprons, pencil rolls, and notebooks. The artworks were created specifically for Made in Tashkeel by artists Ibraheem Khamayseh, Mobius Design Studio, Myneandyours, Tulip Hazbar and Wissam Shawkat. Made in Tashkeel 2017 runs untilAugust 30, 2017. The gallery is Thursday, throughout the summer. To learn more, visit http://tashkeel.org or call +971 (4) 336 3313.

Tabari Artspace revealed the new name and visual identity of their gallery formally known as ARTSPACE Dubai. A solo exhibition of new works by one of Egypt’s most influential and established contemporary artists, Mohamed Abla will be the first at the gallery under its new name.

Mohamed Abla: The Silk Road includes a selection of abstract artworks which synthesise calligraphy, collage and traditional Middle Eastern techniques, as well as a series of new paintings entitled The Silk Road, which explore folktales from North Africa, the Levant, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. A common theme in Abla’s work is the exploration of new methods of mark making. For The Silk Roadseries, the artist employs the Turkish Ebru technique (paper marbling), which is the act of floating paper in a tray filled with water and oil paint. The paint is then carefully transferred to the surface of the paper to create colourful marble-like patterns. Abla cuts shapes from the variously dyed papers, arranging them into compositions resembling animals, heroes, princesses and other folktale figures and imagined scenes derived from the ancient Silk Road network, which was operational from around 120 BCE to 1450s CE.

Compiled by Mariam Nihal


July 22, 2017
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