This is the studio recording of the ‘Mother India – 21st Century Remix’ performance piece.
Written and produced by Alvin Seechurn (DJ Tigerstyle), Matt Constantine and David Shaw.
Available for the first time as a download and on CD in a limited release. Get it now while stocks last!
Download prices: £1 per track or £8.50 for the album.
CD price: £10 + p&p (£1.50 UK/£3.00 international)
A painting by a graffiti artist was among the official gifts to Barack Obama from David Cameron on his first trip to Washington as prime minister.
The work, Twenty First Century City, is by Ben Eine, said to be one of the PM’s wife Samantha’s favourite artists.
The 39-year-old artist recently sprayed the entire alphabet on shop shutters in a London street.
Mr Obama continued the art theme by presenting the Camerons with a signed lithograph by pop artist Ed Ruscha.
The piece, Column with Speed Lines, was chosen for its red, white and blue colours matching the British and American flags.
Writing on his website, Ben Eine said it had been a “weird day” because “David Cameron has given one of my paintings to President Obama in an art swap”.
The artist, who has worked with Banksy, began his career by “tagging” his name on buildings and trains around east London, examples of which are featured on his website under the heading “vandalism”.
In recent years he has been asked to decorate shutters in cities as far afield as Tokyo and New York.
* Article from the BBC website on 21.7.10.
Well done Eine from everyone at Kala Phool and Rising Styles Hip Hop Festival.
Hosted by Sarah Sayeed’s Sister Elements, this will be huge show incorporating live Hip Hop, DJ’s, live street art, live visuals and fashion – with a Bengali twist…
BRIX LANE REMIXED @RICH MIX
35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA
31st July 2010 // 8pm – 1am // £5 (adv), £7 (door)
SARAH SAYEED (w/full live band Slo Burn)
MC SHAMELESS (w/full live band)
NAGA MC // AVA B
DJ EXCALIBAH // DJ BADESHI
Hosted by UNIQUE
+ live street art by GRAFFIK LONDON
+ fashion/visuals by AIR IMAGES
+ resident artist SRI McKINNON (Eastpak)
£5 advance tickets click HERE.
“SISTER ELEMENTS uplifts the Bengali roots of Brick Lane, blending live Hip Hop with street art and fashion! With a live soundtrack from some of the finest Hip Hop artists and DJ’s in the UK – this is one night not to be missed!
SARAH SAYEED spearheads SISTER ELEMENTS, an independent record label and production company. SARAH SAYEED will be performing with her full live band Slo Burn, presenting work from her single EP ‘Black IS…’ and new collaborations from 2010. With two of the UK’s finest artists – DJ EXCALIBAH (BBC 1 Xtra, The Blacks) & DJ BADESHI (Other Brother Records, BBC Asian Network, Future Friction) spinning the finest in Hip Hop, Soul, Motown, Funk, Dub, Drum ‘n’ Bass and Indian Electronica”
Supported by Kala Phool and Rising Styles Hip Hop festival.
Join the facebook group HERE.
THE EDINBURGH MELA
DIRECTOR (Re-advertisement)
Salary £36k-£40k (dependent on experience)
The Edinburgh Mela is seeking a dynamic Director.
You will have the commitment, enthusiasm and skills to develop the continued success of The Edinburgh Mela, its festival and other activities.
This is an exceptional opportunity for a proven arts manager with vision, flair, ambition, strong leadership skills and fundraising attributes to promote and strengthen The Edinburgh Mela’s profile within the sector and community. The Edinburgh Mela leads the way in creating an exceptional event based around arts, a vast range of communities and diverse cultures.
We welcome applications from candidates who have a proven track record in strategic leadership, fundraising, artistic/cultural programming, event and people management.
For further information and to receive an application pack please contact: Liam Sinclair. Tel: 0131 332 2888. E-mail: liam@edinburgh-mela.co.uk
The Edinburgh Mela is an Equal Opportunities Employer and welcomes applications from a diverse range of people.
Deadline for Applications: 12pm Monday 16th August 2010.
Interviews to be held: Tuesday 24th August 2010.
Nelson Mandela today celebrated his 92nd birthday quietly with his family in Johannesburg.
His birthday was marked by Mandela Day, conceived as an international event devoted to public service, and a celebration of the former president’s life.
Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, said: “Today is an opportunity for millions of people around the world to look inside themselves and say: ‘I am able to make a difference to my neighbour, to someone underprivileged. I can extend my goodness to other people.’”
SHOP has TWO, two-week residencies available for Artists in Residence. Two weeks of 14 consecutive days is the preferred duration of the residencies within the SHOP programme.
We are looking for proposals that will explore and create work which is specific to Stoke town, considering the location and people within it. There is possibility to hold workshops as part of your residency – and the brief remains flexible for a variety of artists to apply.
There is an opportunity for one of the residencies to take place at both SHOP and the community centre/garden, Boothen on London Road, Stoke on Trent.
The two ideal residency periods are: 6th September – 20th September 2010 & 25th September – 9th October 2010.
Both residences will recieve a fee of £500.
To submit a proposal, send your CV, any images or links to examples of your work and a short proposal outlining the following:
• The area of your practice you will be exploring during the residency
• How you will work with the local context and community
• Why SHOP and Stoke Town for this proposal
The deadline for residency proposals is 23rd August, 2010.
For more information visit www.shop-stoke.co.uk
Contact Gemma Thomas at shop@shop-stoke.co.uk for more information.
So our own Associated Artist, Sri McKinnon’s latest solo show Archipelago went off with a bang. You’ve still got plenty of time to go see it for yourself at the Eastpak Gallery in Carnaby Street.
Kala Phool is very proud of Sri’s latest collection – enjoy some of her work.
LOVE this ad’….check it out.
Kala Phool’s Associated Artist’s rosta is going from strength to strength with this latest show from the enigmatic artist and illustrator, Sri McKinnon.
Sri has worked tirelessely over the years to gain a steady following to her beautifully flowing illustrations. You may of been lucky enough to see Sri across many shows doing her live art, or simply come across her work. This show – only Sri’s second solo show – gives you the up close and personal feel that will envelope you into her world.
The private view is only days away and a date for your diary:
Private View of Sri’s Eastpak Gallery show ‘Archipelago’ on Thursday 15 July 2010.
Taking place at:
1 Carnaby Street
London
W1F 9QF
Time: 7.00pm – 9.30pm
Music courtesy of DJ Kidkanevil (First World Records).
Drinks courtesy of Tiger Beer.
Nearest tube: Oxford Circus
Please RSVP sheela@dustpr.com if you want to get in.
Michael Gondry and Icelandic musicianBjörk are certainly no strangers having collaborated together on no less than seven music videos since 1993, the last being 2007’s “Declare Independence” off her album, Volta.
Earlier this year, however, it was revealed that the two were set to reunite for a mysterious, secret film project that was described by the director simply as something “very undefined, so it’s hard to give more precision.”
It was that secretive. However, In an interview with Gondry at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival promoting his new documentary, ”A Thorn In The Heart,” we managed to draw out a few details on the project which sounds more like an art project than a feature film, but fascinating nonetheless.
“We have a very ambitious project, a sort of scientific musical,” Gondry explained. “[It's a movie], but maybe more for museums. Like a 40 minute IMAX project in 3D.”
A 40 minute IMAX 3D scientific musical fit for museums? Did we expect anything less from a film project involving the musically adventurous Björk and visually creative Gondry? Not really.
Gondry has already evinced a belief in Björk’s acting ability, originally wanting to cast her in his fantastical-love-story “The Science Of Sleep.” The musician however, passed though, presumably still scarred from her award-winning experiences with Lars von Trier on “Dancer In The Dark.” This new collaboration sounds exciting and we wouldn’t expect anything less from the aspiring filmmaker and the always bold and creatively forward-thinking musician.
In case you missed it, here’s more from the interview with Gondry including details on his new project, “The We & The I.”
Tate announced today that Chris Dercon, Director of the Haus der Kunst, Munich, has been appointed the new Director of Tate Modern, and will take up the appointment in spring 2011.
Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate said:
“Chris Dercon has made some outstanding exhibitions in Munich and has demonstrated a commitment to showing art from across the world. We are delighted that he has agreed to lead the team that is taking Tate Modern into its second decade.”
Chris Dercon has been Director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich since 2003, and before that he had a leading role in the development and direction of other major international cultural institutions: P.S.1 in New York, Witte de With Centre of Contemporary Art in Rotterdam and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
At the Haus der Kunst, he developed a highly-acclaimed programme of exhibitions by leading international artists alongside the wider visual field of architecture, design, fashion, photography and film. He integrated the Haus der Kunst collections of conceptual art, media and performance art into the programme, and invited contemporary artists to respond to the architecture of the gallery – last year Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei created the site-specific work Remembering 2009 for the façade of the building. He renovated and expanded the Boijmans Van Beuningen building, and has been consulting on the renovation of the Haus der Kunst.
He says:
“I am delighted to join the team at Tate Modern. Transforming Tate Modern is an incredibly inspiring challenge allowing us the chance to create a new kind of art institution, fit for the 21st Century, for London’s many different audiences. Thanks to its exceptional staff, Tate Modern is constantly evolving, almost like an art movement in itself. Indeed Tate Modern is many things for many people and I am thrilled that I will be part of it.”
Check out the full article here.
Our lovely Rising Styles partners Hoochinoo have a rather fab interview in Kmag that you may be interested in.
Check it out here.
Sabotagetimes.com are pleased to announce the first London Exhibition from Modern Toss:
The Modern Toss London Museum of Urban Shit-Naks
22 June – 4 July 2010
International cult cartoonists and animators Modern Toss are bringing their unique brand of precision swearing and stylishly cak-handed drawing to a Shoreditch gallery this summer for an unmissable, ground-breaking, two-week exhibition. The scurrilously inventive satirists behind Mr Tourette and the Drive-by Abuser invite you along to witness their incredible range of top notch, limited edition prints, interactive art pieces and assorted, hilarious paraphernalia from the Toss cabinet of shit-naks. This is London’s first ever proper celebration of Modern Toss artwork so we can expect some special treats – including a three ton marble fly; two eggs in a cage fighting over a pin; a talking, stuffed bird moaning about sitting on a twig and Mr Tourette’s incisive summing up of the international banking crisis.
They claim they will be concentrating on “addressing contemporary themes” with this exhibition, so get yourself down there and check out too their ‘Periodic Table Of Swearing’, a drop-in art therapy session in the form of a 200metre long communal cartoon, some live poetry reading from the Drive-by Abuser, a selection of superb ‘Space Argument’ prints and some highly collectible dirty pictures, hand-stitched in wool by enthusiastic mature ladies.
Prices for limited edition letterpress and silkscreen prints range from £30 – £200.
The Modern Toss London Museum of Urban Shit-Naks
22 June – 4 July 2010
Maverik Showroom, 68-72 Redchurch Street, E2 7DP
Opening Hours Mon-Fri: 11am – 7pm
(except Tuesday 22 June, closes at 6pm and Thursday 1st July closes 9pm)
Weekends: Midday – 4pm
……but guess what, hes a BLACK MAN!!
Seriously, as article headliners go, this has to be the most ridiculous. The fact the new owner (Adebayo Ogunlesi) is of course Black is neither here nor there, so why highlight it?!
What’s also interesting about this is the lack of media coverage, not even the BBC or CNN ran this story!!
Idiots!
Click here for the article to what should be heralded as an amazing achievement by one individual.
Guess who’s chatting at the next SAWCC meet….a special presentation with Indy Hunjan.
SAWCC words read as:
Indy holds a multitude of talents. Not only as Director of Internationally acclaimed Kala Phool, within which she produces the UK’s only annual Hip Hop festival – Rising Styles, she also conceptualised the phenomenal Mother India 21st Century Remix, also known as MI21 – a 45 minute re-edited, live score of this Indian Cinema classic, which headlined Raj:Reload at this years Alchemy festival in April at Southbank.
If that’s not enough to be getting on with, Indy has been recognised for her talents and earmarked as one of the top 50 women to watch as a UK Cultural Leader.
Heres another groundbreaking performance from MI21’s DJ Tigerstyle for your delectation.
The organizers of the embryonic National Museum of Hip-Hop want to honor one of the most vibrant American art forms to emerge since jazz. But at a coming-out fundraiser last month, they found themselves the targets of a boycott announced by legendary rapper and New York native KRS-One—the project’s most important adviser—who said key hip-hop “pioneers” had declared the museum “illegitimate.”
“They said it wasn’t kosher,” said KRS-One’s fellow hip-hop groundbreaker, rapper Chuck D. of Public Enemy, adding that he heeded phone calls from some of his predecessors about not supporting the museum’s April gala at Manhattan’s Pink Elephant nightclub. The rapper had initially agreed to co-host the museum event with KRS-One, but says he left the party early. “This is like the O.K. Corral,” he said.
The travails of this barely nascent museum illustrate the challenge of collecting history from people who are still living it. The genre’s pioneers accuse the museum’s organizers—and other cultural institutions and corporations before them—of exploiting their innovations. They claim they should be paid for their personal histories, a demand stoked by several of hip-hop’s inventors who say they were left behind when styles evolved and a local movement exploded into a global industry.
In the four decades since hip-hop took root in the South Bronx, a few universities and museums have staged exhibitions and gathered artifacts to honor it—among them the Smithsonian Institution, which has about 100 items. In 2005, efforts began to launch a national museum celebrating the form. Its leaders include 35-year-old Craig Wilson, a Bronx native who closed a marketing and management firm he’d founded in order to join the museum effort.
The team secured non-profit status and a provisional museum charter from the New York State Education Department. But it has raised almost none of the estimated $125 million needed to erect a building. Mr. Wilson says he’s scouting sites in Harlem, and organizers envision interactive exhibits and a community education hub.
Until now, the group focused on assembling support from hip-hop’s trailblazers. As recently as 2008, the museum team held meetings with pioneers including members of the Cold Crush Brothers, an early rap crew. But the Pink Elephant gala torched the relationship. Some pioneers say they weren’t invited even though their names were used to market the event. Mr. Wilson counters that invitations were extended but that some invitees demanded last-minute meetings and celebrity treatment.
Late last month, two weeks after the gala, about 40 rappers and associated veterans assembled at the downtown New York club S.O.B.’s. In attendance was Melle Mel, a rapper with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who accused institutions like the Smithsonian of profiting from the pioneers’ accomplishments. He shouted, “I’m in the Furious 5—not the Happy 5!”
The group formed the Universal Federation for Preservation of Hip Hop Culture, a union of sorts with plans to generate revenue for the pioneers. In one proposed scenario, the Federation would license its members’ collective memorabilia and oral histories to museums or film productions in exchange for fees.
Mr. Wilson, however, doesn’t think personal fortunes should factor. “We’re doing this for the culture. Period,” he said. “Not for one specific group, or the pioneers. It’s up to them whether they want to be down with it or not.”
KRS-One (né Lawrence Parker) says that he wants to see a museum built, but that it must begin with compensation for the architects of hip-hop. “They deserve to get paid,” he said. “This wouldn’t be a gift. More like an honorarium for scholars.” He added that he routinely sends money and other assistance to pioneers in need. A second-wave South Bronx rapper who has long been a de facto spokesman for hip-hop at large, KRS-One coordinated the S.O.B.’s summit, even as he counseled Mr. Wilson on how to salvage his rap relationships.
The museum does have influential supporters, including Terry Stewart, president and chief executive of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, who has offered guidance. For now, though, Mr. Wilson says the museum has reached an impasse with the pioneers, who are lobbying for not only for payment but input on the museum’s design. A Federation leader says negotiations will occur when representatives from both sides can be assembled.
KRS-One, who has waged his share of rap battles, says the feud itself might be a sign of common ground. “This dude is arguing with the gods!” the rapper said of Mr. Wilson. “Just imagine: The museum starts out with a founding beef.”
Hip Hop Hots Spots – check them all out here.
Article courtesy of The Wall Street Journal and written by John Jurgensen.
Coming of Age is an exhibition and book celebrating 21 years of Melas in the UK.
The Launch kicks off on FRI 28 MAY from 6pm at New Arts Exchange in Nottingham.
Melas have been held in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years but are a relatively recent phenomenon in Britain. The term Mela stems from the Sanskrit word gathering and is used to describe all manner of cultural and religious celebrations. In Britain the term encompasses the earliest bazaars, fairs, family days and fesivals organised by the South Asian Diaspora. Within the context of the exhibition and the book the focus is on national cultural events started by Bradford and Nottingham Melas in 1988. Both explore how these Melas have grown to become annual arts events and part of the heritage of many towns and most cities.
A number of photographers have supported this project through their stunning photographs that portray the vibrant sounds and colours, traditional and contemporary expressions, graceful movement, intricate patterns, delicious smells, contented faces, exuberant and passionate joy…all found within the Mela environment.
Share in this celebration and explore the 21 year history of the Mela through this special exhibition and reading the book.
The book, Coming of Age: Celebrating 21 Years of Mela in the UK can be purchased from the New Art Exchange.
Launch date: 28MAY from 6.00pm
Exhibition dates: 29MAY – 24JULY 2010
WEB: New Art Exchange.
This is MAJOR people – were certainly in for a treat.
Image courtesy of Rich Mix
It’s been described as “global groove music”, but Karsh Kale & MIDIval Punditz’s sound is much more than that. Together, they weave influences from drum ‘n’ bass, Sufi music, deep house, centuries-old ghazals, rock, trip-hop, North and South Indian classical and folk music, trance, Jamaican dancehall and more. It’s a tight acoustic-electronic soundscape that – devoid of fusion clichés – blends evocative singing, instrumental melodies, ambient drone and funky, intricate amplified beats with ballsy intelligence and infectious energy.
“The musical hybrids weren’t stunts. They were the sound of musicians who listen widely and well.” The New York Times (on Karsh Kale).
“The Delhi-based Indian duo… deliver… an intense experience morphing electronic and Indian music in a way that brings out the best of both…crowded with creativity…” Isratrance (on MIDIval Punditz).
Click here to see Karsh Kale on BBC Asian Network – Ravi at 90.
Bobby Friction is renowned for his specialist knowledge of British Asian Music & South Asian music worldwide and currently hosts a show dedicated to just that – the week nightly ‘Friction’ show on the Asian Network. Over the years Bobby has represented the British Asian sound as a DJ all over the world and has built an international reputation as a genre mixing turntabilist from Asia to the US, and from the Middle East to the whole of Europe.
He is also singularly the most lovely person Kala Phool has had the pleasure of working with.
VENUE: Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA
BOX OFFICE: 0207 613 7498
EMAIL: boxoffice@richmix.org.uk
WEB: www.richmix.org.uk
ONLINE BOOKING here.
TIME: 8.00pm
COST: £10 adv / £15 door
