Art, comics, poetry, food and music at Southbank Centre
On Sunday I went to the Southbank Centre for a number of reasons:
The Poetry Comics exhibition at the Saison Poetry Library (Royal Festival Hall) – the largest poetry library in the UK.-
Amazing as the library itself is, this exhibition co-curated by Chris McCabe and Chrissy Williams made it even more so. Featuring works by William Blake, Derik Badman, Bill Berkson / Joe Brainard, Kenneth Patchen, Oliver East, Kenneth Loch, Bianca Stone, Paul K. Tunis / Matthea Harvey,Stephen Collins, David Troupes, Tom Humberstone, Anne Carson; and publications like CComics, Ink Brick, plus various rare books and reading copies, this was a very densely condensed exhibition, and quite an amazing one.
I was recommended to take a look at William Blakes _Songs of Innocence and Experience_, which of course I
m already doing! 😉 Any cultural suggestion is always very welcome.
You have until July 12th to enjoy this rare jewel, so if you are not already here, come to London!
The Pulse and Bloom installation (level 4, Royal Festival Hall).-
Unfortunately, those of you who have not had a chance to see this one, are out of luck, since it was going on only until May 25.
Pulse and Bloom is an award winning collaboration between artist Shilo Shiv Suleman, architect Saba Ghole, neuroscientist Rohan Dixit, metal sculptor Heather Stewart and electronics expert Luke Iseman.
They created an amazing interactive art installation consisting of giant fabricated lotuses (which instantly reminded me of Singapores Supertrees in Gardens By The Bay</a>). Each lotus is equipped with two pulse sensors. When pressed by one or two participants, the sensors translate their heartbeats into pulsing LED lights, which illuminate the stem and petals in a rhythmic pattern. As the stem pulses with both heartbeats, we see how heart rates of different people in intimate spaces start to beat in sync. It
s amazing how powerful it is to see your own heartbeat almost instantly synching with someone else`s.
The party with British Asian female DJs.-
Outside, in the Festival Terrace, there were a few DJs performing. I listened to DJ Nish and DJ Missy D.
The Alchemy Indian Food Festival.-
While Indian food has never been my favourite, there was so much to choose from that it was not difficult to find something delicious: Kothu Kothu, Dosa Deli, Horn OK Please, Baba Gs, Papi
s Pickles and The Peckish Peacock, plus food from 20 more stalls.
Of course, this being London, although it was a bit chilly outside, the place was packed with tank top wearing young people and families, enjoying the rare sunshine ray making its was down between the constant dark clouds.