Artists in Conversation: Reimagining spaces and restoring lost histories

Join three artists from the exhibition Kalila wa Dimna: Ancient Tales for Troubled Times in discussion: Rayan Elnayal, Jean Morris, and Vaishali Prazmari. Reflecting on their own heritages and research based creative processes, Rayan, Jean, and Vaishali explore the ways in which their artistic and writing practices seek to restore ‘lost’ voices, languages and histories and to reimagine mobile spaces and places, at the boundaries of diverse cultures. They also discuss their responses to the fables in Kalila wa Dimna and their approach to the themes raised by the exhibition.

The talk is moderated by the exhibition curators Ghazaleh Zogheib and Rania Mneimneh

Artists in Conversation:Threading Stories of Friendship in Textile Art

Join textile artist Alice Kettle and lead textile artist at East London Textile Artists (ELTA) Sonia Tuttiett for a conversation about the enabling dimensions of textile collaborative work within different contexts, such as teaching settings, within local councils, and with adults with varying abilities. 

Alice and Sonia shed light on their different yet intersecting processes of textile work, exploring the role of stitching in strengthening human connection and fragile relationships in the often-alienating urban settings.

Artists in Conversation:Art practice in challenging environments

In this online talk artists Dima Nachawi, Ali J. Dalloul, and Alyson Frazier, the founder of Play for Progress, a Croydon based charity, discuss collaborative art practices in challenging environments.

Dima and Ali discuss the challenges and interruptions affecting the creative workflow while living in unstable areas, and the necessity of addressing social and political issues as forms of resistance, archiving and continuity. They reflect on the challenges of setting priorities in their art practice in unstable contexts, especially when bringing their work to international audiences. They also discuss art as a mean of survival and as the gateway to another life, elsewhere…

Alyson, musician and founder of Play for Progress, discusses the approach taken by Play for Progress in their art and music classes for young asylum seekers, which are therapeutically underpinned and encourage open engagement. Alyson also shares some of the challenges faced by the organization and the young people with whom they work to thrive in unstable conditions under a harsh asylum system.

Join the artists for an open conversation that asks what it means to ‘do art’ and to collaborate in a challenging and often unjust world.

The talk is moderated by the exhibition curators Rania Mneimneh and Ghazaleh Zogheib

An Introduction to Miniature Painting: A Demonstration

Watch artist Vaishali Prazmari demonstrate the techniques of miniature manuscript painting. In the one-hour online session, the artist takes you through the process of transferring an image, inking in the lines, colour filling, rendering/shading and painting the final outlines with tiny brushes.

The Kalila wa Dimna fables were famously illustrated by miniature painters across different dynasties and the artist chose the miniature format for her displayed work at Kalila wa Dimna: Ancient Tales for Troubled Times exhibition. Vaishali demonstrates the different painting stages by working on a variety of different artworks and you get to see a number of different painting types and styles. If you are interested in going further, Vaishali teaches this unique and specialist art form at: https://www.vaishaliprazmariteaching.com