As the old saying has it: “It’s so nice to go travelling, but it’s much nicer to come home”. The London trip was very worth-while, but it has been good to be reminded that life here in the provinces can be so much more comfortable than in the capital. That’s why these occasional “raids” work out so well for us. There is a lot to assimilate, as the time we spent there was pretty well filled with activity.
Let’s start with our visit to the Jameel Prize results at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I only discovered this by accident when they made the last set of awards, but made point of seeing this show. The competition is for work by artists within the Islamic tradition, and it really is good to be brought up against two initially contradictory aspects of the experience. Clearly the world of art is global, and the vocabulary in terms of which these entries were explained to us was thoroughly familiar. On the other hand, the specific cultural material offering the resources and the context for these pieces was novel, and for that reason very refreshing.
You can check it out for yourself on the V&A website: www.vam.ac.uk. I was disappointed to discover that the occasion was deemed to be of sufficiently minority interest for the museum not to have produced any publication to accompany it. Is than at adverse comment on the museum or the public? I suspect both.
There aspect of the occasion which really surprised me was the overtly political emphasis of the majority of the entries …. I’m sure far more so than any similar event organised in this country.
It was a great visit (perhaps more about it anon, when the experience has sunk in a little more). These things need to grow on you.