Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia,
Louvre Abu Dhabi

Until February 16th 2019

This extraordinary exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi has been possible thanks to the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, in partnership with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH). The show was conceived through cooperation between SCTH and the Musée du Louvre in Paris, where it was first exhibited in 2010.

The exhibition explores five chapters in the history of the Arabian Peninsula, spanning early prehistoric settlements; maritime exploration; caravan trading routes that linked the region with Asia, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean; routes of holy pilgrimage emerging in the 7th century; and the social and economic developments between the 14th and 16th centuries, that set the stage for the modern day region.

The rich history of the Arabian Peninsula is brought to life through archaeological and cultural artefacts, including a selection of rare pieces from the UAE, such as a pearl found in Umm Al Quwain dating from 5500-5300BC (loaned by Umm Al Quwain Museum), and a stone decorated with a wild camel from the late 3rd millennium BC (loaned by Al Ain Museum), among many other exceptional pieces.

These treasures are displayed alongside significant artefacts from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including outstanding funerary Neolithic stela, a 3rd century BC bronze statue head (loaned by the Department of Archaeology at King Saud University); a 1st century BC gold funerary mask from Eastern Province (loaned by the National Museum in Riyadh), 9th century engraved steles (loaned by King Fahad National Library); 4th millennium BC Anthropomorphic stele (loaned by the National Museum in Riyadh); a door of the Kaaba dating to 1355 (loaned by the National Museum in Riyadh), and a key of the Kaaba (loaned by the Department of Islamic Art at the Musée du Louvre). 

Alongside the exhibition opening, Louvre Abu Dhabi is organising a three-day celebration featuring a performance called “On the Roads of Arabia” – a creation from music, dances and poetry by eighty artists from the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, India, Indonesia and China with a contemporary, calligraphic street art drawing designed by Tunisian artist Koom. The cultural program accompanying Roads of Arabia: Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia will also feature film screenings selected by Hind Mezaina, curatorial talks, as well as a range of education workshops and guided tours related to the exhibition.

www.louvreabudhabi.ae

A HIGH OCTANE LOVE STORY

I fell in love with classic cars in my eleventh summer, when my dad turned up at home with a 1969 Alfa Romeo Spyder, of course, in vermillion red. Previously boring car journeys to visit relatives became full blown adventures. It was the raw material childhood memories are made of.

I felt a similarly childish level of excitement upon attending Le Mans Classic this summer, a biennial vintage sports car event held on the grounds of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, jointly organised by Peter Auto and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. Patrick Peter, the owner of Peter Auto, is a long time friend of Richard Mille. Peter approached Mille back in 2002, being aware of his passion for cars, to propose him to be the title sponsor of the event. Mille accepted and they have since worked together to make Le Mans Classic the successful and famous event it is today. Mille is not a stranger to racing, “I do like to drive on circuits during the year,” he says, “what I like the most is to have a few laps as quickly as possible, to have my dose of adrenalin and then I am done.

Generally, to run hours and hours is not my cup of tea. I prefer to spend quality time with friends who share the same passion.” Richard Mille’s love of cars started at an early age, “Since I was very young, I was fascinated by the mechanics of cars. I went with my father to my first Grand Prix in Monaco in 1966. This was a revelation in following what would become the golden age of motor racing.”  It was here that he saw Bruce McLaren driving the M2B, the very first McLaren Formula 1 car, designed by Robin Herd and fell head over heels in love with the sport, to the point that he actually bought that very car six years later. To date, I am told this car holds a special place in his heart. This year, Mille had two cars competing during Le Mans Classic: a LOLA T212 FVC 1970 and another LOLA T70 Mk III B 1969. Mille´s two lifelong passions, watches and cars, finally came together when he signed a ten year partnership with McLaren, and the high-tech RM 50-03 McLaren F1 was created, to the delight of watch collectors worldwide. “There is a very close link between this passion, the brand

“There is a very close link between this passion, the brand and its developments,”

Mille explains, “we develop our watches with the same consistency required for the construction of a racing car, in which the chassis, engine and bodywork must all be conceived together. Calibres can be removed with the same speed as engine blocks, and access to any particular component very rarely requires that the movement be entirely disassembled. In the automotive world, as in watchmaking, high-performance mechanics call for a similarly excellent chassis. Much as McLaren was the first F1 team to use carbon to lighten their car’s chassis, we introduced the use of carbon nanofibre for baseplates before designing a mono-body baseplate in Carbon TPT®. Formula 1 cars from the 1960s have also influenced me. Their tubular chassis are veritable works of art, so much so, that they inspired the tubular baseplate of the extremely rare RM 012.” Mille’s creativity inspired by the automotive world extended to create a series of Le Mans Classic limited edition watches, the latest of which, the RM 11-03 Le Mans Classic has an RMAC3 automatic.

Their tubular chassis are veritable works of art, so much so, that they inspired the tubular baseplate of the extremely rare RM 012.” Mille’s creativity inspired by the automotive world extended to create a series of Le Mans Classic limited edition watches, the latest of which, the RM 11-03 Le Mans Classic has an RMAC3 automatic calibre heart (or should I say “engine”), completed with a flyback chronograph that can literally flatten the on-track lap timers. Furthermore, its twin mainspring barrels offer fifty five hours of power reserve. The case is made of white ceramic combined with Graph TPT®, a carbon-based material six times lighter than steel and 200 times stronger. Dial detailing in British Racing Green and yellow lends an undeniable classic racing vibe to what is otherwise an almost futuristic-looking watch. Just a hundred and fifty of these watches will be made.

The Le Mans Classic event of 2002 was the first time since 1923 that the full 24-hour circuit, part of which is public road, was closed specifically for an event other than the annual running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with contemporary sport cars and prototypes, thus allowing car owners and drivers to experience what it must have been to race these cars on this circuit. The event consists of a series of races for cars which have competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans or for similar cars of the same model. Only cars from prior to 1979 are allowed, with all being broken into six different eras. To compete in the races, a driver must own an FIA International Competition license, meaning the drivers are of professional level. Car shows and auctions are hosted on the Bugatti Circuit grounds, with various car clubs meeting

The event consists of a series of races for cars which have competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans or for similar cars of the same model. Only cars from prior to 1979 are allowed, with all being broken into six different eras. To compete in the races, a driver must own an FIA International Competition license, meaning the drivers are of professional level. Car shows and auctions are hosted on the Bugatti Circuit grounds, with various car clubs meeting to show off machinery. The 2018 edition saw record-breaking numbers of participants (700 cars) and attendees (135,000 spectators), with over a thousand drivers coming from all over the world, plus more car clubs, exhibitors and activities available on the grounds. In 70 years of history of this great endurance event, the 2018 Le Mans Classic celebrated the 40th anniversary of Alpine’s victory in the 24 Hours, the 25th of the historic triple of the Peugeot 905; and 70 years ago Porsche really came of age with the launch of its first series production car, the famous 356.

There were numerous celebrations of other iconic makes and models starting with the 50th anniversary of Ligier, the Ferrari 365 Daytona, the BMW 2002. In addition to the traditional Grids 1 through 6, and Group C, representing Le Mans racing cars from 1923 to 1993, the new Global Endurance Legends grid introduced a new era into Le Mans Classic, the GT1s and other LMP1s of the 1990s and 2000s. With this demonstration grid, the event now widens its retrospective view of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to 2016, with the famous Audi R8, Bentley Speed 8, Peugeot 908 HDI and more, such as the McLaren F1 and Maserati MC12. Richard Mille famously invites a number of friends and partners to this adrenaline charged weekend, such as Mike Flewitt, CEO of McLaren Automotive, the future Formula E driver Felipe Massa, WRX driver Sébastien Loeb and football player Didier Drogba, who gave the start on Saturday for Little Big Mans — the race for children.

A hundred or so replicas of endurance vehicles promptly sprang into action on the straight before the stands as the public cheered them on. Their adult colleagues took to the track at 4.00 pm, with Grid 1 reserved for pre-war vehicles (1923-1939) marking the official start of the 9th edition of Le Mans Classic. Sébastien Loeb and Felipe Massa together waved the French flag, signalling that man and machine were free to take on the Le Mans track. The grids would follow one another in lining up until the following afternoon at the same time. Between the races, the activities organized by all the car make clubs, those hosted in the Collectors’ Enclosure and all the events in The Village (Drive-In cinema, bowling pitches, period motorbikes…), it is difficult for me to think of a better way or better company in which to spend a summer weekend.

www.lemansclassic.com
www.richardmille.com

24th October – 24th February 2019. Tate Britain, London
Words by Lavinia Dickson-Robinson

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, First Baronet ARA was one of the most important British artists and designers of the 19th century, closely associated with the later phase of the
Pre-Raphaelite movement. He was great friends with William Morris, and through this exhibition one can see how closely both worked together. They became friends at Oxford, where they also met Gabriel Dante Rossetti, who had greatly influenced their work.

Burnes-Jones’s works are so beautiful that you will have to catch your breath. The diversity of media used by Burne-Jones is astonishing, ranging from canvas to stained-glass, from tapestry to mosaic. The depth and ethereal beauty in Burne-Jones’s work seems magical. He rejected Victorian industrial ideals, taking us instead to an enchanted realm depicting Arthurian knights, Classical heroes and Biblical angels. This massive retrospective exhibition brings together 150 works by the artist, from his early stained-glass windows to two of his most awe inspiring pieces: The Briar Rose c1890 and the unfinished Perseus series (started 1875).

Burne-Jones’s lack of formal training in fine art allowed him to develop a distinct and highly idiosyncratic approach to painting that bridged the fine and decorative arts. The exhibition also includes spectacular large-scale paintings like Love among the Ruins 1870-73 and The Wheel of Fortune 1883 show his international impact, including at the 1889 Exposition Universelle when he emerged on the world stage as the leading light of symbolist art. Two rooms dedicated to the artist’s most famous narrative cycles are shown together for the first time. These huge canvases are among his finest and best-loved works, telling the action-packed story of Perseus and the dreamlike fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty.

I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to spend a grey autumn afternoon than visiting this stunning exhibition.

www.tate.org.uk

Controversial, inspirational and always charismatic, at eighty years of age,
legendary film director Jack Bond still has a lot of fire in his belly.

His latest feature film based on the self-taught artist Chris Moon An Artist’s Eyes has been heralded amongst the critics and fans of the director’s work. In this interview Bond reflects on his life and work, and shares with us some of the best anecdotes of his career, which so far extends over five decades.

I-M: I understand you spent WWII in London with your mum, and that your dad was at the front. Which are the most poignant memories of those times?

J.B: Initially they tried to get women and children out of the towns, so we went for ten days to a beautiful house in the country.  Very quickly we got bored so we came back and spent the rest of the time being bombed.

I have very strong memories of that time. The news came in that my mother’s brother had been killed. She cried uncontrollably. It was terrible, he had been shot down over the sea and I remember as a child being dragged up and down the beach in Wales where the shooting down happened because my mother always dreamed he would turn up one day floating on a rubber dingy with a little red sail.  There wasn’t a chance, of course; it was a fighter plane and it was only bombers which had those things, not little fighter planes. I have very acute memories of the war and I think they shaped me as a person quite a lot. They turned me into a fighter
.

I-M: Did you always want to be a film maker?

J.B: Not really. It is a bit of a story. I always had a problem with my father, a military man and an officer. We were always quarreling, so I decided I wanted to leave home at 15. I convinced my mother to get me a motorcycle so I could be free. She bought me a Vincent 1000, Black Shadow. I learnt to ride and I felt free.

One day I rode my motorbike into Richmond and stopped by a riverside pub. I was 15 and a half, actually not old enough to ride, but I walked into the pub all the same trying to look cool. I went up to the bar and there was a stunningly pretty barmaid who asked me, “What can I do for you?” so I replied, “You could pull me a pint”, then she asked me how old I was and I answered “Old enough to fuck you”; and I got my pint. I waited for her until the pub closed. I’ll never forget that she was wearing a red French beret and a red coat. I never went home again.

I went to school every day and when I finished I joined the army. They wanted to send me to Sandhurst but I refused point blank. The Colonel finally sent me to Beaconsfield, to the Royal Army Educational Corps to be trained as a school teacher. So I became a teacher and then found out how much they earned…


I-M: Is this around the time when you joined the BBC?

J.B: Yes, I managed to join the BBC and started making trailers. I was 22, maybe 23, I had no previous experience and found everything very exciting. It was a strange period in the industry. At this time, we’d write a script and make a trailer for a movie… but the trailer wasn’t actually a clip from the actual film.

Early in those days I was making a trailer for a play called Mad House in Castle Street by director Philip Saville. I was in the studio control room watching a rehearsal, so I could understand what was going on and I heard an American voice singing softly to himself, playing the guitar, but I couldn’t see him. I asked the PA who this person was, and she answered, “His name is Bob Dylan”. I was mesmerized by his voice, so I went down to meet him and convinced him to sing for my trailer. I didn’t think much of the play, so I thought I would just use this track. Philip was furious with me. It was the only fight we’ve ever had.  We actually became close friends.

I-M: Quite quickly you moved onto documentary films, the best known of which is the one you made with Dalí. Could you tell us a bit about that project?

J.B: My trailers were becoming increasingly abstract and people really liked them. At the time, the Controller at the BBC was Huw Wheldon, a genius. I went to him and told him I wanted to make a film about Dalí, and he told me I didn’t stand a chance as Dalí has always refused to make a film with anybody. I tried anyway. I contacted his Manager, who was actually an MI5 spy called Peter Moore. He told me Dalí wouldn’t make a film with me but would be delighted to have me for tea. I took the chance and went to see him at the hotel where he lived. His room was like a gilded cage and Dalí was sitting on a high chair, looking terrifyingly imposing.

Dalí said: “Please be clear that I will never agree to make a film with you or anyone else, but for the sake of argument, why do you want to make this film?” Anticipating this question, I had made up a story in my mind about subconscious realism, etc, but when I went to speak it wouldn’t come out.  There was a rather uncomfortable silence, and suddenly I blurted: “My intention would have been to mentally take an electric drill and get inside your head to destroy you and your subconscious and your ego once and for all.” Peter Moore dropped the tea pot, and just stared. Dalí then said: “We will make a film then.”  And so we did.

I-M: Were you already working with Jane Arden at the time?



J.B: Yes, actually Dalí and Jane had a big fight in the street while we were filming, and Dalí ended up screaming and throwing his hat at everyone. But the next day the whole thing had blown over and they got on fine. It all worked. It was a strange film, but it was great.

I-M: From the mid ‘60s to the mid ‘70s you worked hand in hand with the writer Jane Arden. In 1967 you directed the award winning Separation (1967), produced  The Other Side of the Underneath (1972) and co-directed Anti-Clock (1979). I believe the UK film industry refused to screen Anti-Clock, so you took it to America where it became a hit, is that right?

J.B: Yes, the person who championed the film was Andy Warhol, friend of Dalí’s. He introduced me to him in a taxi, on the way to a Magritte exhibition. He was a strange man, Magritte, looked like a banker, nothing like his art.

I-M: After Jane’s death you went on to work on the South Bank Show and many other feature films and documentaries about artists. How was that period of your life?

J.B: Yes, after Jane’s death I came back to Britain and made Vibration, a 16mm film which I edited myself because I liked cutting film. Things were so much more tactile then.
Then I worked with Melvyn Bragg (now Lord Bragg), who created and produced the South Bank Show. I thoroughly enjoyed that. We made amazing documentaries. I am particularly fond of the work we did on Roald Dahl, Patricia Highsmith and Werner Herzog.


I-M: Your latest film has been the feature length documentary An Artist’s Eyes, about self-taught artist Chris Moon, which was filmed in 2016. How did you come across this project?

J.B: I was mysteriously invited to an exhibition of paintings in London by a young artist I didn’t know at all. I was curious so I went and to my surprise, I saw that many of the works had a red dot. I was looking across the room and this guy came up and said, “I suppose you are wondering who got you here. That would be me, I am Liam West. You are the only person who ever succeeded in making a film with Dalí, so I was wondering if you would like to make a film about this artist.”  

We began shooting in London and moved on to Essex, where Chris Moon was born and bred.  He’d never had an art lesson in his life, but was obsessed with painting. He is car crazy and has a big collection of classic cars. We shot in New York where Chris had an exhibition and did an outrageous photo shoot with Mick Rock who kind of exploded into the action – very entertaining, great fun, and then a road trip across Southern Spain.

I-M: How long did it take to shoot?

J.B: A year, because we wanted to change the locations a lot, and then about six months to edit.  The premiere is at the Curzon Bloomsbury on November 1st with screenings to follow across the UK.


I-M: What was the filming like?



J.B: I was blessed with a brilliant crew, not a weak link anywhere. In this conditions you can really relax because you know you’re getting great cinematography and back-up. Chris was very worried that he was being turned into an actor and he didn’t want that.  For example, in Southern Spain Chris was driving his old Mercedes with his photographer friend, Ian Morrison, and we had microphones everywhere to pick up every word they said, but they said nothing, not a word.  We defeated that problem by catching Chris off guard. We wrote a few quite intense questions and Chris’s responses were immediate and genuine. He gave everyone what they wanted. That is most of the dialogue of the film.

Chris likes to paint to music and when we first filmed he wanted to be filmed painting a picture from beginning to end. While he was doing this he was playing Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’. Unfortunately we couldn’t get clearance to use it in the film.  It was by coincidence that we met a man called Gabriel Bruce whom we had seen on the Jools Holland show. He was playing acoustically and we loved it. We tracked him down.  He had just finished recording his album Come All Sufferers and gave us the soundtrack. The end result is a film I believe to be quite magical.

For all information on An Artist’s Eyes please visit the film website:


www.an-artists-eyes.com

By Lavinia Dickson-Robinson

Now in its 45th edition, and for a 10th time, LAPADA has created a Stylish pop up in the middle of Berkley Square.

LAPADA is the largest association of art and antique dealers in the UK. For one week every year over 110 specialists come together for the annual LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair. The fair has always been known for showing the most prestigious and rare pieces. So what better place than the heart of Mayfair to display exquisite collections of painting, sculpture and divine jewellery together with a dazzling array of beautiful antiquities that you never thought you need but now you can’t live without? You know that saying I can resist everything but temptation? Well, this is very true of the LAPADA Arts & Antiquities Fair

A preeminent exhibition of this kind needs an excelling executive team. Lord de Muley, who is chairman of LAPADA was pleased to announce in his chairman’s statement the appointment of Freya Simmons as CEO and Sophie Wood at Fair Manager. With 20 years experience between them, having worked at companies like Christie’s and Clarion among other, these two exceptional women are perfectly placed to continue the growing success and popularity of this incredible fair.

Each year there are awards in certain categories:

Best furniture went to Mackinnon Fine Furniture – Best Furniture
Pair of George II Green Japanned Bureau Book case attributed to Giles Grendel England circa 1740

Witney Antiques – Best Object
Pair of Gloves – Leather, silk worked with silk and metal thread, spangles; long and short satin, knots and couching stitches, metal bobbin lace.

The Linda Blackstone Gallery – Best Glass
Meadow Bowl by Louise & Colin Hawkins – Hand Blown and Hand Sand Blasted, 2018

Lucas Rarities – Best Object d’art
Nightingale – A Cartier 19th Century songbird cage belonging to the late Jeanne Toussaint, Cartier’s head designer from 1933-1970. Movement by E. Flajoulot of Paris.

Boccara – Best Textile/Best Stand
Allegory of Time – wool tapestry hand-woven at Aubusson. “C Dodane” at bottom left and “Aubusson”at bottom right 350 x 270 cm Circa 1930.

The Old Corkscrew – Best Silver
Rare Victorian novelty silver sovereign case marked for London 1883 in the form of a Japanese Noh mask by Louis Dee.

Ellison Fine Art – Best Fine Art
Portrait miniature of William Holman Hunt by Edward Robert Hughes after 1905.

VDK Jewels
A demi-parure comprising a necklace and earring in yellow gold embellished with pearls and diamonds by Ferdinando Sandi, Padova 1972.

Honourable Silver Objects – Special Mention.
So, if you only manage to get to one Art Fair this season, let it be this one. It is an Aladdin’s cave of wonder and beauty!

www.lapada.org

A Rebel with a Cause

This past summer, French Lebanese artist Mouna Rebeiz exhibited her second UK solo show ‘The trash-ic. Or trash in the face of beauty’ at the Saatchi Gallery. This exhibition presented the artist’s personal view on current societal issues – each work displayed is not about painting trash as much as it is about painting a period that is “trash”. Not provocative or scandalous for scandal’s sake, but rather an attempt to convey the movement of the times, via the movement of the paintbrush.

Rebeiz uses both the techniques of the Great Masters and applied art. Her work presents many contrasts, throwing up interesting questions and exploring the tension between trash and beauty, and how they coexist as one in art. Our Editor visited the artist at her studio in London for an intimate and candid interview, in which Rebeiz shared her passion for the arts, the secrets of her ever wandering mind, and her sense of purpose.

I-M: I understand you were born into a family of artists and that you were very attracted to the plastic arts since a very young age. Do you remember what made you fall in love with the arts?

M.R: My grandmother was a piano composer. I would say that initially, I loved music and poetry. My grandmother was a piano composer and my uncle is a poet; we have singers in the house, my sisters are interior designers…

Being a painter was unexpected for me. I’ve always loved art but I never wanted to be a painter. I refused the call time and again. I was always good at it, at school I was always top of the class at drawing and painting but for some reason I didn’t want that to be my future.

I-M: You studied Psychology at La Sorbonne, and it wasn’t until 1995, when you joined the Atelier Cépiade in Paris with Alix de la Source, that you really immersed yourself in the study of the arts. Why not earlier?

M.R: It was my sister who really wanted to paint and insisted we looked together for a studio in Paris. I found Atelier Cépiade, and when I met Alix de la Source I agreed to start a course there. At the beginning we did very simple techniques like peinture paysanne, and I didn’t like it, I found it grotesque so I told Alix I wanted to do something more refined. She said: ‘then you have to start painting with oils.’ My first instinct was to refuse but she insisted and brought some roses to paint. I thought that would be impossible but she painted the first one for me and encouraged me to continue. I loved it. I don’t know what happened but I painted as if I knew how, as if I had been using oils all my life.

I-M: Alix de la Source is a specialist of 17th and 18th century painting, and lecturer at the Louvre, I understand that she introduced you to the techniques of the Great Masters and helped you evolve your personal style. How was that journey?

M.R: The moment I accomplished those roses with oils I knew that was it. She told me, “it seems you are going to go far, quickly” and she immediately gave me another assignment, another still life of Yan van Huysum. She made me study the Old Masters and copy their paintings and techniques for a decade. We went to all the big pinacothèques in Paris: the Louvre, the Mussee d’Orsay, Jacquemart-André… all of them. After those 10 years, I was feeling that she had too much influence on me and that I was ready to fly alone.

I wanted to paint on a large scale and she thought it was too poster-like. But when she saw my first “independent” work, she loved it.

I-M: What happened between that moment and your last exhibition, ‘The trash-ic”, which was quite controversial, presenting the dilemma of trash and beauty together and debating how they can cohabit?

M.R: I used to work on a bit of a metaphysical plane. I’d work on misery, and beauty, and pain; intangible concepts so my friends and colleagues criticised my work as not relevant to our times. They constantly asked me to “come down to earth”. I did this for 10 years with the collection Hymne to life. Through women’s body I’d express a wide range of feelings. I consider myself quite a mystic person; I was using figurative art to illustrate abstract concepts.

It was very conceptual, in an abstract base. I actually think that the work of the Great Masters is very conceptual. People in general think that figurative art can’t be conceptual but they are very wrong. If you analyse any painting from Raphael, or Da Vinci for example, they are very conceptually complex.

So at that point, I started to work with Betty Boop. It was my way to come down to earth. I was speaking about virtuality v reality. 9 years ago I had the feeling that we were walking into a very loose era, one in which we’d lose our parameters, one in which everything would be very mixed-up. At the time nobody understood why I picked up Betty Boop to work with. She is very iconic, and she is not real, she is a virtual creation. In the conceptual confrontation I was creating, Betty Boop was virtuality and real women bodies were reality.

I had two shows on this subject. One expressed confrontation and the other one focused on dialogue.

I-M: Your art in general is brave, feminist and provocative. Is this done on purpose to create controversy?

M.R: No, not at all. I don’t do anything on purpose. It is how it comes out of me, it is the cry of the wild (they cry of the heart). For example, after Betty Boop I felt I was ready to express what I wanted and did Le Tarbouche. This is a very universal theme. It is originally from Greece, coloured in Morocco, the fabric comes from Venice and it was embraced by the Ottomans. The tarbouche is worn by men and empowers them, almost like a symbol of virility. I used it on women. The philosopher Elsa Goddard actually posed for me when she was pregnant, completely naked except for the tarbouche. I was inspired by Bernini’s sculpture The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. The message was a wake up call. Le Tarbouche exhibition in 2015 was my first solo exhibition in London, also at the Saatchi gallery.

After Le Tarbouche I was ready for Trash-ic. I was ready to explore the concepts of trash and beauty together. I started by translating every letter into musical notes and every note into a colour. I did two series of 9 squares. One is very trashy and the other one is much quieter.

For my previous exhibition, La voie de l’opera, from Wagner to Vangelis, Vangelis himself gave me his music, a choral symphony (Mythodia) that he did in collaboration with NASA when they discovered water on planet Mars.

To be honest, only after the Trash-ic exhibition I myself could honestly answer the question “how can they live together?” The answer is: through art, through the act of painting.

It was not about painting trash as much as it was about painting a period that is “trash”. When you paint trash, the beauty and the sublime comes out of it. Painting is an act of magic, capable of bringing out the beautiful dimension of everything, even trash. And so it is that trash and beauty generate/nourish each other, coexisting in the face of controversy and drawing their respective matrixes from a society in search of new points of reference. One no longer exists without the other.

Trash in our society is everywhere, in tv, in social media… we live in a time in which vulgarity is glorified. This affects beauty in a very dangerous way. It distorts minds, it dehumanises us. A human being needs harmony, nature is harmonious, actually the human eye looks for harmony even where there is none, so for example to balance colours, your eyes will always try to see complementary colours together and if they are not there, your eyes will make them up. Art give us back our humanity, art will bring us back to God. Art will save us.

I-M: Who‘d you say is the Master that has inspired you the most?

M.R: I think Goya. Actually I made a version of La Maja Desnuda and one of La Maja Vestida, one more classic, which is in Paris, and one more edgy, which is here in London. Also Hieronymous Bosch, Balthus, and Picasso. These were artists who were not afraid of painting the scandalous, the grotesque, the hardly tolerable, the violent and the beautiful,… all these concepts coexist as one in art. That is the message behind Trash-ic.

I-M: There have been very few recognised female artists in the history of the fine arts. How do you see the situation nowadays? Do you think the world of arts is an even field for men and women?

M.R: No, not at all. Not yet. I am not a feminist but I don’t think there is equality between men and women in the world of art. There is still some prejudice and not recognition enough. However, we women have the ultimate power.

I-M: In your last exhibition you hosted a fundraiser to raise monies for the Charity Innocence In Danger, a world movement for the protection of children against all forms of sexual abuse. How long have you bee involved with this Charity?

M.R: I’ve been involved with this charity for 15 years. Children are sacred to me and we must defend them as they can’t defend themselves. I think that the only time I could kill, it would be for a child.

There is not enough awareness about children abuse, mainly because the abusers hold power and the abused hold none. Children from poor countries are trafficked for all kind of horrific purposes, from sexual trafficking to organ trade. And we call our world civilised?

A specific problem with this cause is that it makes everybody so uncomfortable that nobody wants to speak about it. When you see the things I have seen, what is done to these helpless children, even to babies, you can’t but wonder if God actually exists.

For my last show in London this past summer, I asked renowned designers and artists to apply their individual creative energies to produce unique piggy-banks. Many of those piggy-banks were auctioned by Sotheby’s on the opening night. Participating designers included Chantal Thomas, Christian Lacroix, Caviar House & Prunier, Diane von Furstenberg, Emilio Pucci, Jo Malone, Swarovski, Vangelis, and many more.

I-M: What are you working on at the moment? When will we see another exhibition of Mouna Rebeiz’s works in London?

M.R: I am always painting. I need to, I have to. It is such a primal need. So I have this idea about recycling, that has been playing in my head for the last year or so, and now I have to find a way to express it, to empty my head out. Maybe I will go abstract for this, at least at the moment. It is what my body needs. Abstract is so cleansing!

So at present I need to do more research into materials, technology… I have the feeling that soon we’ll be recycling human beings.

mounarebeiz.com

Emotional States
Somerset House 4-23 September, London

By Lavinia Dickson-Robinson

A highlight of the global design calendar, London Design Biennale sees some of the world’s most exciting and ambitious designers, innovators and curators gather in the capital to show how design impacts our very being and every aspect of our lives.  In response to the theme Emotional States, more than 40 participants from six continents are exhibiting engaging and interactive design installations across Somerset House. In an exhibition of outstanding ideas and creativity, international design teams are illustrating how design can challenge, delight, educate and surprise.

The emotional states behind the theme are fear, sadness, joy, disgust, contempt, joy, anger, and surprise. Each of the 40 participating regions show their individual designs and ideas, in the hope that it can help the world move forward and create a better, more sustainable environment for us all to live in. Jonathan Reekie CBE, Director of Somerset House states, “From its 18th-century origins, Somerset House has played a central role in British society as a place where our culture and collective understanding of the world is shaped and defined. In 1837 the Government School of Design was launched here, later to become the Royal Academy of Art. We hope you enjoy this international exploration through design of Emotional States.

This thought-provoking exhibition has been curated by some of the leading design institutes in the world. These include the V&A, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian, Triennale in Milan, and Qatar Museums.
With this amazing collaboration between institutions and innovative designers, it’s hoped that we can create a better understanding of how to heal and maintain this incredible planet and to share and understand each other for a better world, by uniting global talent, and encouraging future generations to share their ideals of design across all divides. About the relevance of this exhibition, Sadiq Khan says, “It is vital that London retains its position as a design capital and remains open to investment from creative businesses around the world.”

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Photo Credits Landmark Projects
• Time for Tea by Scholten and Baijings supported by Fortnum & Mason
• MultiPlyby Waugh Thistleton Architects supported by the American Hardwood Export Council and Arup V&A Projects
• Dazzle by Studio Frith supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies
• Memory & Light by Arvo Part and Arup
• A Fountain for London by Michael Anastassiades supported by The London Fountain Company London Design Biennale
• Designed by Pentagram, masks created by Andy Singleton