V&A

Our last morning in London involves the obligatory visit to the V&A - obligatory because we love it, but also because I’m a member and as this is our only visit in this subscription year, I feel I need to get my money’s worth! So despite feeling pretty rough today, I’m determined to at least sample the three big current shows. 

First it’s Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance. I’m no expert on renaissance sculpture, and as the mother of two boys, Donatello just takes me back to their Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles phase - but as always, the V&A provides a visual feast. I’m not really up to a slow walk round, taking in all the information, but in terms of photographic opportunities I’m spoilt for choice. Glass does provide the challenge of reflections, but sometimes there are interesting effects - and of course, the skill and artistry on show is simply stunning. I’m particularly taken by the ‘Portrait Busts’ which portray so much of the sitters’ characters. 

Then it’s Africa Fashion - melding traditional vibrant colours and styles with the work of new designers - garments as beautifully tailored as anything from London, Paris or New York. And - typical of a V&A exhibition - there’s a wonderful art work: A Dialogue Between Cultures created by Artsi Ifrach. He explains:

‘I was asked to create a custom piece reflecting the cultures of both England, where the exhibition is, and Africa, the focus of the exhibition. It took six months to create and hand embroider the piece they commissioned, and there are so many messages in it about how I would like to present Africa. It reflects both a trench coat design - a recognisable garment that relates to England - and the Burkha, one of the most recognisable garments of the Arab world, and also the hand of Fatima and the evil eye, recognisable Arab symbols. At the back, I embroidered Nelson Mandela’s speech, ’The Deepest Fear’*. This is what inspired me the most. I think this speech changed Africa, and how African and black people see themselves; I wanted to pay homage to that. Ultimately, I want the piece to give people an opportunity to reflect.’ 

* Edit: having researched this, I find ‘The Deepest Fear’ seems to have been wrongly attributed to Mandela, and was in fact written by Marianna Williamson - there lots of contradictory stuff on the internet! The poem is in the link below - but still attributed to Mandela! https://uh.edu/~hwagan/pnl/mandela.pdf

Finally, it’s Hallyu: the Korean Wave. It’s as bright and brash and frenetic as I expect, garish colours, video screens, music - visually it’s exciting, but hardly restful or contemplative. Our visit is very brief - just a walk through really - but it is fascinating to see how this country has transformed itself from war-torn devastation to an economic, cultural and commercial powerhouse - and for all the garish brashness, there’s the brilliance of Korean cinema. 

I’m hoping the train journey will give me the chance to catch up on your comments and your journals, but the wifi is rubbish, so I concentrate on editing my photos instead. Since last night, I’ve been attempting to remedy the situation, but I’m not quite there yet - and please excuse the brevity or absence of comments. 

For my main, I’ve chosen ‘Bust of an Unknown Woman’, with a mosaic portrait of Donatello in the background. It as purchased as a Donatello, but is now considered to be a 19th century fake! 

As extras, there’s a Donatello collage, plus three from Africa Fashion - including one devoted to the ‘Dialogue between Cultures’.