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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Catwalk Review: Fashion Fringe

Fyodor Golan Winners of Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Antonia Parker
Winners of Fashion Fringe 2011: Fyodor Golan S/S 2012 by Antonia Parker

If you’ve read Matt’s or my account of The Swedish School of Textiles show at Fashion Scout, dosage you’ll know it went on for an insanely long time. This means I’m ridiculously (half an hour!) late for Fashion Fringe, which is showing on the opposite side of the WC2 postcode, near Trafalgar Square. Once again I wonder if London Fashion Week organisers have conferred to place shows at nonsensical distances from each other just so that the frustration of the press may create humorous fodder for them.

Luckily I’m not one that insists on wearing heels at fashion week (or ever), so I’m able to run comfortably – well, as comfortably as one can in the relentless monsoon like rain and when one is wearing a wholly impractical maxi dress (I suppose that eclipses my wise footwear choice).

8 Northumberland Avenue is not easy to find, especially when the familiar sight of an impatient queue has vanished, leaving no sign that reveals ‘catwalk show here!’ So after zipping across the street twice, I finally stumble upon, quite literally, the Fashion Fringe venue. I’m out of breath and drowning in rain and sweat (not quite how I’d wanted to present myself), but I’m here and it appears the show hasn’t started yet. Phew.

Claudia Schiffer & Roland Mouret Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

My Fashion Fringe invite gets a scrutinising glance before someone is told to get a wristband on me and rush me into the arena. More running and I’m there. “You can stand anywhere at the back,” I’m told – this guy obviously hasn’t scrutinised my invite. I proceed to find my seat and of course, as luck would have it, my view is being obscured by those of a superior height. I complain about my predicament to my new neighbouring friends; they’re writing for a publication in Toronto and tell me they “love Amelia’s Magazine“.

Fyodor Golan Claudia Schiffer Roland Mauret Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

The winners of Fashion Fringe 2011 Fyodor Golan with judges Claudia Schiffer and Roland Mauret.

A fuss is being made of a couple of celebrities as they make their predictable late entrance and ‘flash flash, snap snap’ croon those domineering cameras. Damn it, I can’t see from where I’m sat, so naturally I take to the raised runway to peer at Claudia Schiffer and Roland Mauret, this year’s Fashion Fringe judges. The photographers are been ushered away, but I take my chance and ask Claudia and Roland if I may take a picture – “of course,” they agree and I triumphantly click the shutter on my camera.

Fyodor Golan Fashion Fringe 2011 Winners London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay 1

Fyodor Golan Fashion Fringe 2011 Winners London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

The show is about to start and I can hear a voice shouting, “Quiet please!” I take a seat on the floor, knowing it’s the only way I’m going to get any half-decent pictures of the show. Sat across from me, Hilary Alexander offers me a smile and I hope it’s because she approves of my determination rather pitying my plight.

First up is the endearing partnership Fyodor Golan with their spring summer collection ‘Flowers of evil’, inspired by the anthology of the same title by Charles Baudelaire. The showcase narrates the story of a nymph (I’m guessing she’s a water nymph by the appearance of the straggly, uncombed, just out of the river after a star light dip hair the models are wearing) that experiences an excruciating metamorphosis.

Fyodor Golan Fashion Fringe 2011 Winners London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

The transition begins with her appearing in symbolic white, in contrasting textures; the strong and the delicate. Stencilled into the garments are birds as if signalling the fair creature’s desire to take flight and be free, whilst the gleaming gold choker that threatens to asphyxiate her, pulling her in to a world that promises contentment only in death.

As nature supports her frail demeanour, life appears brighter and the progressing metamorphosis reveals itself in form of a white dress veneered in vividly coloured blossom. The neck shackle however, remains, unforgiving.

Fyodor Golan Fashion Fringe 2011 Winners London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

The transformation sees the nymph freeing herself from the shackles of her former life and enjoying the dangerous opulence of the new and the darkest ebbs of human nature, but the shackle now replaced by her very own hair appears to reveal that she has become her own enemy. Golan Frydman and Fyodor Podgorny have clearly put a lot of thought in to the theatrical element of the show and this is very much evident as their nymph’s painful transition into maturity is depicted by an older than average model – not a common sight at fashion week, so a high-five to them!

Fyodor Golan Fashion Fringe 2011 Winners London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay 8

Fyodor Golan Fashion Fringe 2011 Winners London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

The finale presents the protagonist in a severely structured, yet elegant black gown that trails the catwalk. Her head is held high, but her face hidden by a staggering collar, beautiful but all consuming. It’s a tragic tale and a timeless one, but the collection itself hasn’t quite enthralled me.

Heidi Leung - Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Antonia Parker

Fashion Fringe Runner-up: Heidi Leung S/S 2012 by Antonia Parker

After that dramatic performance, Heidi Leung’s collection inspired by Orientalism (‘East Asia and the Middle East’ highlights the press release) and 60s holiday photos appears a far more light-hearted an affair. The colour palette of lively greens, oranges and yellows, combined with a neutralising tan and blue and white checks incite summer days on sandy beaches, neon beach-balls and a nearly cloudless sky and picnics on a luscious green field dotted with pretty flora. The hair is styled simply; straight and easy with a prominent centre parting and the make-up complements with sixties’ neutrals and accentuated eyes.

Heidi Leung - Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

I’m a massive fan of layering, but if you’re not, Leung’s collection is going to be wearisome to comprehend. Every outfit appears to be made up of at least three layers; sixties style gingham undies (which I love), a chiffon overlay with a mandarin collar and a loose cape or a coat to complete the look.

Heidi Leung - Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

Leung also combines crochet and embroidery within her collection, revealing an element of couture (in its original sense) and the use of ancient handicrafts. The crocheted and embroidered pieces sit upon gingham foundations and hang from the neck. I must say these pieces resemble table runners I’m sure reside on an antique oak table somewhere, in the parlour of a country cottage where a village tea party is being enjoyed. I love this collection.

Heidi Leung - Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

My favourite pieces include the frilly three quarter pants, reminiscent of undergarments of a past era, the knitwear, pleated tops and skirts and the long, softly moving, elegant coats. And have I mentioned the footwear? Okay, so a platform shoe covered in pastel coloured rosettes and secured with a transparent covering may not be the most flattering of foot accessories, but think about how much fun they’d be to wear? They’ve made me smile and I’m only looking at them.

Heidi Leung - Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

Nabil Nayal is the final Fashion Fringe contestant showing his collection titled ‘All the Riches She Deserves’. The collection conveys the story of a wealthy heroine who is taken to safety as her mansion of splendour burns to the ground at dawn. The make-up and hair conform to the narrative with captivating smoky eyes and voluminous, gracefully wild locks; a look inspired by the 1970s.

Nabil Nayal Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Antonia Parker

Fashion Fringe Runner-up: Nabil Nayal S/S 2012 by Antonia Parker

The colours that empower the collection echo the tones of smoke, fire and ash and perfectly cloak the strong, modern and feminine silhouettes. Nayal’s innovative construction of his collection boasts a myriad of wonderfully cultivated techniques and the use of a whole host of fabrics and textures. The Syrian born and Sheffield raised designer uses soft leathers, luxury silk jacquards and transparent fabrics such as organza and chiffon to concoct a dynamic presence, a characteristic each of his pieces flaunt.

Nabil Nayal - Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

Nayal’s love and admiration for the fashions of the Elizabethan era are manifested in the bulbous ruffs of his magnificent capes, whilst his appetite for elegance is evident in the long, flowing gowns, most notably the kimono style dress in antique gold lace. The tailored tulip dresses and skirts endeavour to promote a sense of a strong, ambitious, feminine character that never fails to look chic.

Nabil Nayal - Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

Of all the competitors, I believe Nabil Nayal’s design appear the most expertly put together and the commercial aspect of fashion design has clearly been considered. I can certainly see the entire collection being bought and it adhering to the taste of many women, but would I wear the fastidiously put together collection? My desire for colour and eccentricity says “no”.

In contrast to my response to Fyodor Golan’s narrative, Nayal’s narrative isn’t one that I (or many others, I’m sure) can empathise with – I mean, how many of us enjoy power and wealth and the promise of a silk lined, jewel encrusted safety net, lest we fall?

Nabil Nayal - Fashion Fringe London Fashion Week S/S 2012 by Akeela Bhattay

I’m ready to mosey on home by the time the show ends; I’m exhausted and feeling a little faint (where’s the Vitamin Water when you need it?), but instead of being lead out of the venue, guests are taken down into the basement where the Fashion Fringe after-party is getting under way. I’ve never understood why these parties happily offer alcoholic beverages, but never provide decent non-alcoholic beverages. I feel like I’m being persecuted for being a non-drinker as I sip my medicinal tasting One Water.

A flurry of excitement commands the attention of the crowd; Claudia Schiffer, Roland Mauret and Colin McDowell take to the stage. A moment of silence, then Fyodor Golan are announced the winners of Fashion Fringe 2011. I hadn’t expected it, but I’m impressed that the judges haven’t simply been dragooned into championing the familiar and the chary. I’m very curious to see what Fyodor Golan will be delivering to the world of fashion in the future; I wonder if I could persuade them to create a collection around the poem ‘Lamia’ by Keats?

Watch the show here.

All photography by Akeela Bhattay

Written by Akeela Bhattay on Sunday September 25th, 2011 4:32 pm

Categories ,1960s, ,2011, ,8 Northumberland Avenue, ,After-party, ,Akeela Bhattay, ,All the Riches She Deserves, ,Antonia Parker, ,BFC, ,British Fashion Co, ,Claudia Schiffer, ,Contestants, ,couture, ,crafts, ,crochet, ,East Asia, ,Elizabethan, ,embroidery, ,Fashion Fringe, ,Flowers of Evil, ,Fyodor Golan, ,Fyodor Podgorny, ,Golan Frydman, ,Good Relations PR, ,Heidi Leung, ,lfw, ,London Fashion Week, ,Metamorphosis, ,Middle East, ,Nabil Nayal, ,Nymph, ,Orientalism, ,Roland Mauret, ,Runners-up, ,S/S 2012, ,Swedish School, ,Trafalgar Square, ,transition, ,Vauxhall Fashion Scout, ,WC2, ,Winners

Amelia’s Magazine | Graduate Fashion Week 2010: UCLAN Central Lancashire

Emma Box, find illustrated by Lesley Barnes

So, reigning champions (or at least winners of 2009 Gold Award) UCA Rochester took to the catwalks on Tuesday to show their wares in a bid to cling on to their title amongst the heavyweights we’d already seen at Graduate Fashion Week.

I’m very pleased to announce that they certainly put up a good fight. With a simple chandelier hung from the ceiling above the catwalk, the show began with a rather long romantic song – thank God too, because my guest was running late and he managed to sneak in during the song in the nick of time.

First up was Alexa Papavasileiou who presented a modest yet striking collection that packed a few discrete punches (okay, I’ll stop with the boxing metaphors now). Body-concious printed dresses with full-length sleeves wrapped models in organic suits, while drapes hung over the models creating flattering lines. The most interesting twist was the appearance of constructed stilettos which had a grungy, paper mache effect and gave this sleek collection an edgy twist.

Other escapades in weird and wonderful shoe design were brought to us by Lydia Vousvouni, whose deconstructed womenswear tailoring had a futuristic feel, teamed with crazy shoes that looked like art deco sculptures.

Lydia Vousvouni, illustrated by Abi Daker

Rebecca Watson in stark contrast dressed her models in very eery skeletal masks, bringing a little touch of death-glamour to the runway. The clothes in comparison were relatively simple, consisting of cropped-sleeve tops, two-tone leggings and some pretty neat tailoring.

More digital prints on the catwalk; this time in Emma Box’s structured collection. Micro-skirts and leggings in said prints were teamed with bolero-length jackets with exaggerated shoulders, giving models a dash of sex appeal and masses of style.

Digital prints again, from the Gareth-Pugh-esque Alex Oliver. Her models were transformed into futuristic creatures, with emphasis on shoulders (huge, huge shoulders). Catsuits or short dresses in a psychedelic print were teamed with leather jackets with scary spikes; the climax being a model with a Margiela-style eye covering as part of a hood. It was scary but sexy at the same time.

Alex Oliver, illustrated by Lesley Barnes

The first menswear collection from Rochester was that of Chelsea Bravo, whose models had the appearance of modern-day gladiators. Smock t-shirts with scoop necks emphasised muscular form and Chelsea’s palette of muted colours including sand, burgundy and blue had a sophisticated edge.

Vicky Jolly presented one of the most sophisticated collections I’ve seen this year. Her couturier-like craftsmanship created elegant dresses, with twists and turns in fabrics flattering the female form.

Vicky Jolly, illustrated by Alli Coate

Finally, after what felt like waiting for decades, Hallam Burchett ramped up the glamour factor to a big fat 10. Models sashayed and swished their hips to Donna Summer’s Bad Girls whilst wearing an all-green silky collection, embellished with dazzling crystals and accessorised with demi-gloves. Sod the tits or legs rule in Burchett’s short, short strapless dress and flaunt what you’ve got at the disco! This 1970s-inspired collection had the cuts and lines to make it contemporary, though.

More menswear now, from Anachee Sae Lee and Cherelle Reid. The former was a contemporary take on colloquial dressing and conjured up images of Sherlock Holmes, Oliver Twist, chimney sweeps and Victorian funeral directors all at the same time. High values in tailoring made this a tip-top collection, with fitted suits teamed with neck-bows and crisp shirts with bib detailing were accessorised with sleek shirt-armbands and porkpie hats.

Anachee Sae Lee, illustrated by Abi Daker

Cherelle Reid, whilst employing similar tailoring elements, was an entirely different look. In a strong micro-collection worthy of a slot in any upmarket store come Autumn Winter 2010, models wore silky harem pants which tapered tightly, low-cut v-neck tops and formal jackets. The craftsmanship look exquisite, but the pecs were a bit much *fans brow*

In amidst a whole load of futuristic and structured collections at GFW this year, a welcome breath of fresh air came from show closer Carla Grima. Her magical Grecian-inspired collection was a burst of much-needed colour, and while it wasn’t a clangy hipster spectacle like some show finales, it was understated glamour at its best. Each dress created an illusionary effect as it hung effortlessly from the models, flattering their waif figures.

Having written this post-Gala Show, I now know that UCA Rochester didn’t manage to hold onto their crown as Gold Award winners for 2010. Amongst so much incredible talent, it’s so difficult to stand out. Nevertheless, each collection was incredibly strong, astonishingly creative, and never, ever boring.

Rochester, you’re all winners anyway.

Danielle Reed, malady illustrated by Gabriel Ayala

The Central Lancashire show was an upbeat, approved patriotic affair. Models strutted down the catwalk to a stonking soundtrack provided by students from the performing arts department, and we waved collections along with the cute Union Jack flags left on each seat.

The clothes were a lot of fun too – with the standout students playing around with conventional British icons – from Beefeaters and Big Ben to British school uniforms.

Kirsty Stringfellow created interesting textures with her whimsical collection of knitted designs. Column dresses in thick, appliquéd floral cream ruched across the models’ chests like a curtain, and were adorned with sparkly crochet, printed lace and gold netting. Whilst some of the curtain-esque dresses seemed a little heavy, Stringfellow is clearly gifted at manipulating different textures – the fine-knit cream designs with intricate layers of ruffles were sheer romance.

Kirsty Stringfellow, illustrated by Zarina Liew

On the other end of the scale, Danielle Reed and Rachel Wolstenhome both had fun with a tough, urban take on sportswear. Reed paired white bobby socks with black Dr. Martens, black grommet-laced waistcoats with slouchy joggers and manipulated aertex fabric into loose jumpsuits. The effect was a strong collection of grunge-inspired sportswear, with PVC fabrics and a monochrome palette adding a gothic edge.

Danielle Reed, illustrated by Gabriel Ayala

Wolstenhome created the sole male collection on show, and her futuristic sportswear borrowed shapes and fabrics from a manner of sportswear, a mash up of scuba-esque one-pieces, foam hoods, and deconstructed jersey sweat pants, with cut-out holes and harem-style drapes and folds.

Rachel Wolstenholme, illustrated by Aniela Murphy

A special mention should also go to Sunny Kular for her attempt to spice up school uniforms with Indian elements. We loved seeing that boring grey fabric we remember from our school days twisted into sari shapes, ties and blazers in Ikat prints and jackets emblazoned with a ‘Ganesh’ school badge.

Sunny Kalar, illustrated by Donna McKenzie

But UCLAN’s strongest suits are clearly printed textiles, forming the basis of two of the most eye-catching collections.

Jessica Thompson’s surreal collection of printed designs was full of quirky, cartoonish imagery, manipulated onto a spectrum of designs, from fitted shift dresses to sporty anoraks. Everything demanded attention, from the Beefeater printed slip that made the model into a marching drummer, to the dreamy shifts emblazoned with chimps and birds.

Some images were distorted into unrecognisable shapes and quirky patterns, forcing a closer look. The final piece was a red, floor length printed mac, that looked like it was printed with moon craters – the coolest cover up for a rainy day.

Jessica Thompson, illustrated by Gemma Milly

Saving the best till last – Sara Wadsworth’s amazing printed collection chimed with the patriotic mood. The whole collection was crafted in chiffon, printed with British icons – the Union Jack, Big Ben the London Eye and what looked like parts of Trafalgar Square, all blown up, re-sized, and patterned across wisps of fabric.

Sara Wadsworth, illustrated by Abi Daker

Wadsworth let the prints do the talking, choosing almost sheer chiffon in muted shades of grey, white and occasional splashes of olives and teal. Bright yellow bras peeked out from beneath the designs, ranging from floor length kaftans to a Vivienne Westwood-esque draped dress, and a sweet smock top and short combo. Who would have thought our most touristy landmarks could be re-imagined into such wearable designs?

Images courtesy of catwalking.com

Written by Lauren Smith on Friday June 11th, 2010 12:16 pm

Categories ,Appliqué, ,Beefeaters, ,Big Ben, ,british, ,Central Lancs, ,Danielle Reed, ,Dr. Martens, ,Earls Court, ,Ganesh, ,Graduate Fashion Week 2010, ,India, ,Jessica Thompson, ,Kirsty Stringfellow, ,knitwear, ,london, ,london eye, ,menswear, ,print, ,PVC, ,Rachel Wolstenholme, ,Sara Wadsworth, ,School Uniform, ,Sportwear, ,Sunny Kular, ,textiles, ,Tourism, ,Trafalgar Square, ,UCLan, ,Union Jack, ,Vivienne Westwood, ,Womenswear

Amelia’s Magazine | I’m a Photographer, NOT a Terrorist!

OESTUDIO is not just a fashion brand, more about it’s also an uber-cool collective specializing in creative design. Maybe that’s why they have such an open mind with regards to new technologies and were able to innovate and execute something never seen before in a Brazilian fashion week.

Images courtesy of OESTUDIO

“We are the last generation to be born in analog with the talent to produce digital. That’s why our work is based on the principle that any type of existence must tune in to itself from time to time. In the future, order to generate development, brands will need to have the humility to practice involvement.”

With this inspiring sentence they opened their A/W10 show at Sao Paulo Fashion Week. And it wasn’t just any show; this season they chose to have a virtual fashion show. They actually hosted the show to press and guests, but instead of having models and all the team sweating to make everything perfect live, all the production was done way in advance, with no waste of time, money or energy. Everything was projected onto massive screens on the runway, and comprised of a great film that told, from many angles, the story behind their newest collection.

As FFW website says, “Fashion for OESTUDIO never comes down to mere items of clothing, or to vague desires. For them, the clothes play a key role in how we see and relate to the world.”

And that’s exactly what they’ve done. By showing a clean and sober collection they left interpretations open for the audience to find his/her true identity within the brand’s designs. See the original catwalk video for yourself – and join the fashion elite on the front row.
OESTUDIO is not just a fashion brand, this site it’s also an uber-cool collective specializing in creative design. Maybe that’s why they have such an open mind with regards to new technologies and were able to innovate and execute something never seen before in a Brazilian fashion week.

Images courtesy of OESTUDIO

As FFW website says, “Fashion for OESTUDIO never comes down to mere items of clothing, or to vague desires. For them, the clothes play a key role in how we see and relate to the world.”

And that’s exactly what they’ve done. By showing a clean and sober collection they left interpretations open for the audience to find his/her true identity within the brand’s designs. See the original catwalk video for yourself – and join the fashion elite on the front row.
OESTUDIO is not just a fashion brand, approved it’s also an uber-cool collective specializing in creative design. Maybe that’s why they have such an open mind with regards to new technologies and were able to innovate and execute something never seen before in a Brazilian fashion week.

Images courtesy of OESTUDIO

“We are the last generation to be born in analog with the talent to produce digital. That’s why our work is based on the principle that any type of existence must tune in to itself from time to time. In the future, approved to generate development, erectile brands will need to have the humility to practice involvement.”

As FFW website says, “Fashion for OESTUDIO never comes down to mere items of clothing, or to vague desires. For them, the clothes play a key role in how we see and relate to the world.”

And that’s exactly what they’ve done. By showing a clean and sober collection they left interpretations open for the audience to find his/her true identity within the brand’s designs. See the original catwalk video for yourself – and join the fashion elite on the front row.
OESTUDIO is not just a fashion brand, medicine it’s also an uber-cool collective specializing in creative design. Maybe that’s why they have such an open mind with regards to new technologies and were able to innovate and execute something never seen before in a Brazilian fashion week.

Images courtesy of OESTUDIO

“We are the last generation to be born in analog with the talent to produce digital. That’s why our work is based on the principle that any type of existence must tune in to itself from time to time. In the future, online to generate development, buy brands will need to have the humility to practice involvement.”

As FFW website says, “Fashion for OESTUDIO never comes down to mere items of clothing, or to vague desires. For them, the clothes play a key role in how we see and relate to the world.”

After recently going out of print on the Catsup label Paw Tracks have decided to re-issue Animal Collective‘s Campfire Songs EP. Apparently it’s not an album to listen to when sat around the campfire telling stories. Instead the songs contained on the disc are actually about the fire itself. So far so interesting.

Anyone who is familiar with Animal Collective’s recent output will know that they make music which is at once poppy and difficult. Last year’s Merriweather Post Pavilion had as many detractors as it did people praising it as album of the year, and in January! The tracks varied from the personal, My Girls, and Brother Sport (which are about Noah Lennox’s, a.k.a Panda Bear wife and daughters and trying to get his brother to open up about their fathers death respectivley) to the more fun loving, Summertime Clothes, and Lion In A Coma.

Campfire Songs is as far removed from the sound of MPP or Strawberry Jam as it is possible to get. It almost sounds like a completely different band, except for Noah’s plaintive vocals. There are no drums, no synths, and certainly no big sounds. It’s just acoustic guitars being gently strummed while Noah breathily sing/chants over the top .

The album was recorded outside, on a porch, on mini-disc which allows the sounds of nature to be heard and adds a layer to the idea of making music from the elements. It’s an interesting experiment and certainly shows that Animal Collective have never been afraid to experiment. It also shows the bands development from their more noisy/acoustic sound to the electronic juggernauts that they have become.

It’s an album that I would certainly have on in the background while I was doing something else but I don’t think I’d want to sit down and actively listen to it. It seems that even amongst their fans, of which I consider myself a fairly big one, they can still be a divisive band. Something which I think is important as they aren’t trying to please anyone but themselves with their sonic experimentation.

On Saturday 23^rd January at 12pm over 2000 photographers gathered in Trafalgar Square to challenge Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, remedy which allows police and security guards increasing powers to stop and search, approved detain and arrest photographers. The demonstration was organised by the group I’m a Photographer, approved Not A Terrorist (PHNAT) via facebook and twitter. Armed with a humble Canon point-and-shoot piece of poo I went to investigate. My two subsequent hours of camera-envy were overshadowed by a lively demo and huge turn-out, and a serious civil liberties message brought across in a good-natured atmosphere… ‘perhaps thanks to almost no police presence?’, one nearby demonstrator wondered. crowd1 placardscropped2

“We must work together now to stop this before photography becomes a part of history rather than a way of recording it” reads PHNAT’s website. The arrests of high-profile photographers detained or arrested under section 44 for no reason have contributed to the immediacy of the message. If you have ever been to a demonstration, had police pictures taken of your innocent, peaceful, doe-eyed self, as you struggle to keep the courage to keep taking photos without your camera being confiscated, the huge numbers taking part in PHNAT demos may well make you feel slightly better. While the Met’s website now gives a very measured description of police powers to intervene in media-related activity, many photographers complain that these powers are frequently abused and misunderstood. The law and photographers’ rights are very unclear to most.

If you see a two-year old with a camera report it immediately… suspectreport

In a brilliant stop and search parody, a ‘Vigilance Committee’ wound its way through the centre of the crowd. Dressed as police officers, and closely protected by a man on stilts in a helmet/balaclava/CCTV strapped-to-head ensemble, they arrested unsuspecting photographers and onlookers.

As soon as the stop-and-search ‘guilt certificate’ they issued was complete (see below), they provided their criminals with two penalty options: six years forced labour or life-time contributor to the Vigilance Committee. Most chose six years’ forced labour.

Class: None, Sexual Orientation: Rarely.
guiltcertificate

One photographer told me at the end of the demo ‘ our hope is that by organizing this demonstration we’ll make the police re-think their strategies. The freedom to record and document history is a really important one, and a lot of press photographers are experiencing increasing difficulty with the police and security guards. I think at the moment a lot of people just don’t understand the Terrorism Act, police officers included’.

I’m just glad to see so many photographers made it. Were it not for a camera being in the right place at the right time there are many human and civil rights abuses that would have never been uncovered.

Magda, a 26-year old photography student from Krakow, Poland told me: ‘I’m here because I want to make the point that just because you have a camera, it doesn’t make you a terrorist or a criminal. I heard about this on facebook but I didn’t expect to find so many people! I’m tired of being treated like I’m doing something illegal when I take photos at demonstrations for example, at times and places where it’s really important to accurately record what’s going on, and my boyfriend, who works for a magazine here, has been stopped by the police quite a few times. I’ve always wanted to be a bit more bold with my photography, so it’s cool to see so many people here, it makes you feel less alone, I hope it has some kind of effect!”

Written by Zofia Walczak (words and photos) on Monday January 25th, 2010 2:45 pm

Categories ,I’m a Photographer not a Terrorist, ,PHNAT, ,photography, ,Trafalgar Square

Amelia’s Magazine | Copping Out: The latest from Trafalgar Square

tent
Illustration by Verity Smith

Waking on Friday morning I can tell by the sunlight streaming into my room that for a change it’s a bright and clear day, doctor cheapest good news for those taking part in the COP OUT down at Trafalgar square. I’ve been going back and forth from the square since last Saturday, cost the day when following the hugely successful event ‘The Wave’, buy in which around 40,000 decked out in blue descended on Parliament to demand direct action against climate change, the resilient bunch that is Climate Camp went the extra mile and set up camp right between Nelson’s Column and that giant Christmas tree. Known as the ‘hardy types’ the next day in The Sunday Times, they popped up their tents, hung up their banners and got the tea going on a make-shift stove.

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By the time I arrived on Sunday, learned a few names and attempted to help out in the kitchen-tent, which for me involved eating cous cous, (which was amazing) and X-factor related chit-chat, it was clear the original planned 48-hour stay was a given and this was just the tip of the melting iceberg. After a quick meeting in the afternoon drizzle, the resolution was clear; the campers would continue to occupy Trafalgar Square until the end of the Copenhagen Summit on the 19th, meaning a 2 week stay. As the meeting broke-up and everyone started to busy themselves in preparation for the ‘alternative’ carol service that evening, I began to wonder how on earth this was going to pan out; how the group would manage to stay in The Square without it ending in them being dragged away by the authorities, kicking and screaming.

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Upon my arrival on Monday, I learned I couldn’t have been more wrong. I glimpsed from the crossing on The Strand a small huddle and a flash of day-glow yellow and thought, “yikes”, this spells trouble. However all it really meant was what seemed to be a friendly discussion with a police man and a police woman who just wanted to know what was going on, but warned that the Greater London Authority planned an eviction notice for around 4.00 that afternoon. The camp by now was certainly smaller; the kitchen was reduced to a stove for tea and many loaves of organic bread, which had been donated by a local bakery. However still lots of the same determined faces, one of which was Marina who won me over on Sunday in the meeting, she is animated and commands attention, and I generally gravitate toward her and pester her about the latest goings on. Still no word from the GLA, I get handed a leaflet by a smiley chap in a blue suit whose name I didn’t catch about what I should do if I am to be arrested, “eek”, is trouble a brewing? No, that’s just the tea. Still no word so I trudge home in the rain.

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Tuesday morning and a guy in a polar bear suit has joined the camp, word is he was protesting against Tar Sands outside the nearby Canada House. Marina updates her Twitter telling how the bear has given her some shoes, as hers were soaked (her tent is by a fountain), what a bear indeed!
bear
Illustration by Verity Smith

A few new faces have appeared and the numbers are still good, the GLA eventually deliver letters to the tents saying they cannot camp in the square without permission, but it’s not an eviction notice. I rush back to work because it’s the launch of Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration later at Concrete Hermit, which goes down a treat complete with Adnam’s carbon neutral beer. On Wednesday I’m running late for work after accompanying my pal Katie to the station, so I don’t get down to the COP OUT. I hear they’ve called up Boris Johnson but he’s in Copenhagen.

026

Come Thursday morning and the GLA are after the names of the campers, like they are going to tell them. Jenny Jones of the Green Party was also down there making cups of tea. I head down on Friday and the camp is buzzing. After an amazing week of action, negotiation and discussion it is time to bid farewell to those off to Copenhagen, and what better way than with a special lunch. A new kitchen has sprung up as well as yet more new faces, eager to get involved. I get a leaflet about the ‘Feeding the 5000’ event that is taking place next Wednesday the 16th, in which waste food will be used to prepare delicious meals. So with one more week in The Square what is in store? Who knows but Climate Camp still needs volunteers, as well as useful items such as water bottles, blankets etc. All week they’ve been joining forces with other groups that occupy Trafalgar Square during the festive season, from The Salvation Army to Hare Krishna’s to collectively push for effective solutions to the climate crisis.

030

031

On Monday at 10.00am, in solidarity with the activists in Copenhagen, will be an open action taking place in The Square and at Canada House to protest against the use of Tar Sands. In order to develop these large deposits of sticky crude oil rainforests the size of our country will have to be cut down, as well as the extraction and processing of just one barrel of Tar Sands equalling 3 barrels of natural gas and 4 barrels of water; do the maths, it equals bad news for planet earth.

With COP15 in full swing those remaining in the UK need to get together and stand against the further destruction of our planet. So if that sounds like your cup of tea, why not go down to Trafalgar Square and tell your friends, as the COP OUT will only succeed if people lend as much or as little of their time as they can.
londonglobe
Illustration by Verity Smith

For more updates and information on the COP OUT and Climate Camp

Follow Twitter updates on what is happening in Copenhagen from Amelia’s Magazine’s Amelia Gregory

Written by Grace Beaumont on Sunday December 13th, 2009 6:01 pm

Categories ,activism, ,camping, ,Canada House, ,Climate Camp, ,Climate Change, ,COP OUT, ,earth, ,london, ,polar bear, ,police, ,protest, ,Tar Sands, ,Trafalgar Square

Amelia’s Magazine | UK Uncut, Green & Black Cross, Black Bloc & the March for the Alternative.

buy purchase _Another_Level, approved _4x4x3m,_mixed_media_including_reclaimed_wood,_glass_flowers,_taxidermied_bird,_flower_pots,_2009_courtesy_the_artist_and_EB&Flow” width=”480″ height=”320″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-38966″ />
Katie Louise Surridge, Another Level. Mixed media including reclaimed wood, glass flowers, taxidermied bird, flower pots.

Amidst the renovations and general detritus that inevitably comes when you do a top to toe renovation of a two floored building, Nathan Englebrecht and Margherita Berloni are guiding me around the former print works in Leonard Street, EC2 which will soon form the light-filled gallery space for EB&Flow. In the run up to the April 2nd opening, the gallery founders – both twenty somethings who met on an art business course – seem as cool as a proverbial cucumber and in good spirits as we tour the premises, chatting all the while about their vision for the space and how it will serve and suit their artists in residence. While art galleries are certainly not hard to come by in this neck of the woods, there is something very noteworthy about this particular endeavor, and that is the galleries extensive level of support to the artists who will exhibit in their gallery. Their aim is to cultivate long term relationships with the artists in residency, and share an ethos that they will try to make anything happen for them; advising them on their careers, placing them in collections, even paying for material costs if necessary.

A selection of works by some of the 10 artists who will be exhibiting at the group show Since Tomorrow
Gemma Anderson
Albemarlensis, Pahoehoe Lava

Ketil by Shannah Bupp.

Silent Are The Echoes by Nicholas Mcleod

During the time that their work is exhibited at EB&Flow, they are also given studio space within the gallery. (After a period, the walls will be removed and the studio becomes an exhibition in itself). It soon becomes clear that Nathan and Margherita feel passionately about this, discussing at length something which is somewhat of a current hot topic – the sense that artists are not provided with enough support and advice during their time at art school with regards to the business of art; (a subject that was recently discussed in Jessica Furseth’s article here). “We never felt that artists had the right platform in which to exhibit and the support that was needed to develop their careers”, Nathan explains. Born out of this is an additional feature of the gallery; an educational programme kicking off at the end of April that will discuss issues such as collecting, curatorial practice and artist professional development. They list a few of the topics that will be covered, such as the legality issues of selling art, re-sell rights, how to store art, how to do art fairs…..all things relevant and vital to a burgeoning artists career. It’s worth mentioning that these courses and lectures will be open to all. Check the EB&Flow website for further details.

Margeherita and Nathan, EB & Flow.

I ask Margherita and Nathan what they are looking for in an artist, and what type of work will feature at EB&Flow. “There is a certain aesthetic line going through our choice of artists”, Nathan explains, with Margherita adding “we steer away from very conceptual stuff and minimalist art; we want something rich and interesting to look at”. Their first collection is entitled Since Tomorrow, curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini and features work (using disciplines such as installation, painting, sculpture and photography) from ten emerging artists exploring the dynamics of space and providing responses to the question ‘ what is the space we are living at the moment and how do we represent it?’. Work will be shown by Briony Anderson, Gemma Anderson, Neil Ayling, Ross M. Brown, Shannah Bupp, Sue Corke, Dylan Culhane, Alessandro Librio, Nicholas McLeod, Katie Louise Surridge and Cristian Zuzunaga.

A Beautiful Struggle by Katie Louise Surridge

Amongst the core group of artists whose work will be opening the gallery is Katie Louise Surridge, a Slade School of Fine Art graduate. (She will also go on to have a residency at the EB&Flow gallery). Her work will particularly resonate with anyone who lives in grimy, rubbish strewn London because Katie has the ability to make something beautiful out of the underbelly of the city. Her installations use found objects which she sources during scavenging missions done mainly along the Thames, creating a utopia out of what has been left behind and discarded. While I was talking with Nathan and Margherita, Katie was busy getting a sense of the space that will feature her (very big) installation. She works mostly with natural materials, such as aged wood and metal; “natural materials that have been used in this urban scheme, and then reverted back to being natural again”. “I have this fascination with what’s left behind”, she continues, “I like the aesthetic of what the river washes up – it’s been there for a long time and it’s aged and it feels like its got a bit of history behind it”. Discovering Katie’s work makes me realise how little I know about what gets discarded in big cities, and how much waste washes up around us.

So Over by Katie Louise Surridge

It’s impossible not to warm to Katie, especially after discovering the following facts about her:
– She once found an S+M style gag washed up in the river and took it to the pub, thinking that it was a dog collar.
– She was in the Boy Scouts as a child (not the Brownies)
– She is a self confessed obsessive hoarder
– Her beloved dog is going to be featured on a ‘Dog Borstal’ style TV show
– She is saving up to buy a metal detector to assist her scavenging expeditions.

Since Tomorrow: Exhibition Dates, 2 April – 26 May.

Dylan Culhane, and his work Mechanotron which will feature in Since Tomorrow.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut UK Uncut gathers on the South Bank on Saturday 26th March 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Unless you have been living under a rock you will be aware that there was a huge anti-cuts March for the Alternative on Saturday 26th March 2011. In the days since then the press has been dominated with both outrage from the government that “hooligans” should be allowed to roam the streets, order and on the other side, order shock at the way in which once again the police and media have mistreated protestors. As anyone who was following me on Twitter will know I was involved on the UK Uncut action, pharmacy which involved an occupation of Fortnum & Mason… yet another large corporation culpable of massive tax avoidance: This action led to by far the largest numbers of arrests and charges on the day: a staggering 138 of the 149.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

On my way through London I saw the most enormous amount of creativity, from pound coin shields to a Trojan Horse cunningly installed at the centre of Oxford Circus – and of course plenty of banners bursting with witty one liners: included in this blog post are just a few of the amazing sights from the day. With a march numbering possibly half a million and upwards (something the government has been quick to downplay) there were surely many great ones that I missed – especially the legendary message “I was told there would be biscuits” carried by a small child on someone’s shoulders. I broke away from the march early on to take part in UK Uncut actions on Oxford Street and then at Fortnum & Mason.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Demonised by the press for their behaviour, UK Uncut have been quick to fight back with their version of events: really, the police and media should know better. Both UK Uncut and Green & Black Cross – the support network that provided legal observers and arrestee support – have grown out of Climate Camp networks and ways of organising to take on completely new identities of their own. As a result some of those involved are no strangers to wrongful arrest, police brutality and political policing: remember Heathrow, Kingsnorth, G20 and Ratcliffe anyone? These people know what they are doing; naturally the unfair arrests of UK Uncut was filmed and immediately shared, the footage unsurprisingly making the front page of the Guardian.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Some people might wonder what on earth the links between the anti-cuts movement and Climate Camp are, but Climate Camp has always been rooted in a desire to address the social inequalities of capitalism – for example a breakaway group in London is currently looking at ways to campaign around fuel poverty. One of the favourite slogans at the COP15 Climate conference was System Change not Climate Change – we can’t cure the problem with simple quick fix answers, but rather by tackling the whole global neoliberal system. A brutal plan to cut services such as libraries and the NHS will undermine the fabric of a just society, affecting the poor most. Meanwhile the rich are able to avoid huge tax bills at a time when we desperately need to start building a green economy that is not based on endless profit. Clearly these inequalities are something that green activists are keen to tackle.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Climate Camp has also always been a broad mix of liberalism and radicalism, so it’s no surprise that UK Uncut is as well. The very name Green & Black Cross indicates how the group combines the more autonomous anarchist streaks of activism with the skills, infrastructure and ideologies built up within the green movement. It supports grassroots social struggles in the UK and during the March for the Alternative the Green & Black Cross provided Legal Support, Action Medics and Action Kitchens. They even had a basic compost portaloo roaming the streets in a supermarket trolley – but in the event it was never used: it’s hard to get into a kettle once it is formed. They will be independently advising on all arrests during the day at a defendants’ meeting on Saturday 2nd April and were generally out in force to offer biscuits and legal advice as soon as arrestees were released.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Since the arrests UK Uncut activists have had to field a barrage of commentary from the media, which has been ever quick to notice the anarchic element of their protest. Their sit in at Fortnum & Mason was largely peaceful – protestors ate their own sandwiches and listened to performances and speeches – but on Newsnight a spokesperson was asked to denounce all protestor violence. She did a marvellous job of neither condoning nor condemning it: there were people from all backgrounds in Fortnum & Mason. For some it will have been their first experience of direct action (read this shocking report of the arrest of a 15 year old girl) and others were part of the Black Bloc earlier in the day – the two are not mutually exclusive. UK Uncut has an incredibly loose non-hierarchical structure, and to be successful it must somehow find a place for those of all backgrounds.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Inside Fortnum & Mason. They look super scared don’t they?

Most UK Uncutters recognise that there is more to successful activism than a simplistic black and white damnation of violence, but the more liberal end of the spectrum may well be new to the idea that damage to property is not considered violence by many activists – see here for a definition – so there is going to be a rapid need to redefine and educate as soon as possible. Most of the targets for property damage on Saturday were well thought through – big banks that avoid tax, Topshop, BHS and so on. Who threw paint, and who broke windows? It’s not clear, but the targets were clear enough. Some people, whether you agree with it or not, think it is more effective to inflict damage on a well selected target than to simply march from A-B and then listen to speeches. After all, what did it ever do to stop the Iraq war? Direct action through the ages has proven that targeting property can be highly effective – the Suffragettes were never afraid of inflicting collateral damage. Last year at Climate Camp windows were smashed at the RBS head offices in Edinburgh to demonstrate concern against their continued investment in fossil fuels.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

By Trafalgar Square at night some rogue elements (possibly pissed up) were clearly provoked into throwing glass bottles at police, never something I would recommend however bad police brutality gets (and by all accounts it did get REALLY bad) because I personally don’t believe that violence against people is ever acceptable. But I do believe that the Black Bloc as a considered and thoughtful tactic is something that our movement needs: people who are willing to put their bodies and actions on the front line to stop those who are damaging the fabric of our “democratic” society. Many of them were very young, possibly disaffected veterans of kettling at the student demos last year – others were highly organised groups who came to join the march from across the country. Those involved will undoubtedly have slightly different views as to process and outcome but recent online dialogues prove that diverse parts of the movement are keen to work together. Rather than dismiss Black Bloc actions as the nihilistic work of masked “hooligans” we would do well to consider the underlying reasons why this is seen as an appealing tactic utilised by at least a thousand people last weekend. After all, we’re all in this together… and this is just the beginning of our future.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Further reading:
Why Fortnum & Mason?
Video footage from the UKuncut action
An open letter from the Brighton Solidarity Federation of Anarcho-Syndicalists
“People are worth less than property”
A night in the cells is nothing to a lifetime imprisoned by cuts
Reasons why the cuts are a bad idea
Dominic Campbell experiences police brutality in Trafalgar Square
Political Dynamite: We should use the word violence with the greatest care.
Leah Borromeo: Protestors can’t disown the “violent minority”.
Why the UKuncut arrests threaten future protests
What is the Black Bloc? Information page.
Laurie Penny – What really happened in Trafalgar Square
My UK Uncut arrest made me a political prisoner
Climate Camp 2010 in Edinburgh – my commentary
Climate Camp 2009 in Copenhagen – my commentary part one, part two and part three.
G20 Climate Camp in the City – my commentary
Ratcliffe: Did PC Mark “Flash” Kennedy ensure my arrest as one of the Ratcliffe 114 ?- my commentary
Climate Camp at Kingsnorth in 2008.
One of the first UK Uncut protests: Sir Philip Green and his Topshop billions get the UK Uncut treatment.
The Third Estate: A message to Critical UK Uncut activists.
Latent Existance: a report by the 15 year old who was arrested.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday March 30th, 2011 1:27 pm

Categories ,Anarchism, ,Anarcho-Syndicalists, ,Anti-capitalism, ,Anti-cuts, ,Banners, ,BHS, ,Black Bloc, ,capitalism, ,Climate Camp, ,COP15 Climate conference, ,Cuts, ,Democratic, ,Direct Action, ,Dominic Campbell, ,economy, ,Fortnum & Mason, ,g20, ,Green & Black Cross, ,Green New Deal, ,Green Party, ,Hooligans, ,kingsnorth, ,Liberal, ,March for the Alternative, ,Neoliberalism, ,Newsnight, ,NHS, ,Oxford Circus, ,police, ,Political Dynamite, ,Ratcilffe, ,Suffragettes, ,Tax Avoidance, ,The Third Estate, ,topshop, ,Trafalgar Square, ,Trojan Horse, ,UK Uncut, ,Veggies, ,Violence

Amelia’s Magazine | UK Uncut, Green & Black Cross, Black Bloc & the March for the Alternative.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut UK Uncut gathers on the South Bank on Saturday 26th March 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Unless you have been living under a rock you will be aware that there was a huge anti-cuts March for the Alternative on Saturday 26th March 2011. In the days since then the press has been dominated with both outrage from the government that “hooligans” should be allowed to roam the streets, and on the other side, shock at the way in which once again the police and media have mistreated protestors. As anyone who was following me on Twitter will know I was involved on the UK Uncut action, which involved an occupation of Fortnum & Mason… yet another large corporation culpable of massive tax avoidance: This action led to by far the largest numbers of arrests and charges on the day: a staggering 138 of the 149.

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Inside Fortnum & Mason. They look super scared don’t they?

March 26 2011-UK Uncut. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday March 30th, 2011 1:27 pm

Amelia’s Magazine | Yarnbombing: Crafty Fad or Contemporary Art?

Yarn-Bombing-by-Cat-O'Neil
Illustration by Cat O’Neil

It’s a blustery day in October, autumn is well and truly here and I’ve come to Crystal Palace in search of Deadly Knitshade; stitch ‘n’ bitch guru, yarnbomber extraordinaire, cancer survivor and general good egg. She’s been giving me the slip, if you’ll excuse the knitting pun, all week, but thanks to a bit of twitter stalking and a few phone calls I’ve finally tracked her down to the children’s section of Upper Norwood Public Library. Her work is included as part of the Crystal Palace Children’s Book Festival. When I arrive, comic artists the Etherington Brothers are doing an illustration workshop with a bunch of kids, all of whom seem enthralled. As I walk in there’s some kind of question and answer session going on, and about 30 small boys are desperately trying to attract attention to themselves, arms propped-up on heads, hands waiving frantically in the air. One is bouncing up and down in his seat so hard he looks dangerously like he might burst, while another two boys sit at the back, on a child-sized table, scribbling contentedly. It’s a heart-warming scene, but I’m not here to talk about books. It was recently National Wool Week and knitting seems to be everywhere at the moment.

At the very back of the room a couple of adults are milling about, I recognize one as the woman I’m looking for: Deadly Knitshade. I wait for an appropriate break in proceedings before sidling over and introducing myself. I offer to buy her a peppermint tea and she accompanies me to a pub which is fittingly called ‘The Black Sheep’, to talk about woolly stuff. She looks a little tired, to tell you the truth. It’s been a manic six weeks, she explains, she has the flu and she’s been trying to say no to the odd interview, in favour of rest and recovery.

yarnbombing_gemmamilly
Illustration by Gemma Milly

I feel I should explain a bit about exactly what I’m doing here. It’s a year to the day since I almost died, and I have, somewhat deliberately, made sure I am up to my eyeballs in work so I don’t have to think too much about it. What made me so ill is a bit of a long story, so I won’t go there, but during my recovery I found myself knitting more fiercely than ever before. I’ve made more work in the last 12 months than in the 5 years preceding them, and I think that, for some unknown reason, knitting has helped me to put some of my demons to bed.

Deadly Knitshade, or Lauren O’Farrell, if you prefer to use her real name, comes to knitting from a similar perspective. She first picked up her needles about six months into treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. I can’t help but wonder what her views are on the healing properties of knit. When doctors finally gave her the all clear, she planned to celebrate by sneaking into Trafalgar Square and wrapping a hand-knitted scarf around the neck of one of the lions there, then running away again. ‘That was the plan’, she explains, while I sip my tea, ‘but what started as a personal act of celebration became a massive event when we (Stitch London, formerly Stitch and Bitch London) became involved with Cancer Research UK, and the thing went global. We ended up with enough scarf to wrap all four lions and each patch had a story to tell, some contributors knitted for fun, some for company and some to celebrate their own recovery, others knitted for people they’d lost. I knitted a patch for my dad, who I lost to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when I was one and a half. There were others who were actually receiving treatment, and came along on the day, it was brilliant’.

knitlondon_by rosie shephard
Illustration by Rosie Shephard

That was 2007, and since then the people at Stitch London, and it’s yarnbombing off-shoot, Knit the City, have been very busy indeed. The latter, in particular, has attracted a lot of media attention of late. Yarnbombing, in case you have never heard of it, is like graffiti but with knit instead of spray cans. Its exponents cover street furniture including stop signs, bollards, or phone boxes with knitted cosies, they ambush public art with strange woollen creatures, creating intricate and amusing stories and encouraging the viewer to interact with a space they may otherwise have taken completely for granted. It is a shame that yarnbombing has been widely interpreted in the mainstream media as little more than a cutesy fad. Don’t get me wrong, there is no doubt that it is cute, but I can’t help but think that, if they used any material other than textiles: wood, metal, ceramics even, it would all be taken far more seriously. Of course, the effect would be utterly different.

Knitting has strong nostalgic connotations, like a big snugly jumper it comforts and soothes, it is inherently non-threatening in a way no other material is, and the objects produced with it can’t help but inherit the same properties. Knitters are generally patient, meditative people (you have to be patient and meditative to learn in the first place), and they aren’t into conflict. It therefore follows that yarnbombs (the people at Knit the City prefer to call them yarnstorms) are usually about as agitating as a cashmere cardi, but does that make them ultimately pointless?

Stitch London and Knit the City have never been particularly interested in making big political statements, preferring just to spread a little joy, bring people together and draw our attention to parts of London, like the London Stone, which we may walk past everyday and fail to notice. Magda Sayeg, the Texan woman and international yarnbomber credited with beginning the movement, is a little more willing to talk about the ideas behind her work. She’s yarnbombed everywhere, from buses in Mexico City to the Great Wall of China to apartment balconies in New York but she prefers urban spaces to rural ones because ‘trees have their own beauty’.

yarnbombing_gemmamilly
Illustration by Gemma Milly

‘It can be a very subversive subject, which is I think why the mainstream press seem to treat it in a cutesy way. If a magazine treats it in a girly way then that’s all it is…They’re not interested in promoting a conversation that reflects our attitudes to gender and craft or the role of art in public spaces. Here I am taking this ages-old domestic and entirely functional craft your grandmothers have been perfecting for centuries and turning it on its head, using it for nothing necessarily useful. Knit graffiti doesn’t make sense to a lot of people. I’ve heard: ‘’Why aren’t you knitting blankets for premature babies or for homeless people? You’re wasting your time’’. But people take wood or metal sculpture seriously, even though these materials could be used to house homeless people. There’s this assumption about feminine craft – females are meant to nurture, to be productive, to be functional, and how dare you make something just for fun? Or because it looks pretty? You have to help someone with it.’

But they are helping someone with it, or at least expressing something important. Ultimately yarnbombing highlights the way contemporary society feels about the big bad world, particularly the urban environment. There’s a lot out there to frighten, injure and even kill us. Roads scare us, traffic scares us, homelessness scares us, the recession scares us, hell even other people scare us, so what better way to fight that fear than by covering everything in a thick woolly layer of snuglyness? It’s a bit like when it snows. Everything is covered in a soft and gently twinkling coat of the white stuff, and you feel better about the world because you can no longer see the shit underneath.

Is it a coincidence that national wool week happened to coincide with a wave of drastic cuts in government spending, when we all fear for the future more than at any other time in half a century? Almost certainly, but I don’t really believe in coincidences. Knitting may have healed me, but can it heal the world? That’s doubtful, but it can definitely make it a happier place. ‘When we did the phone box’ Deadly Knitshade confides ‘loads of Japanese tourists came up and hugged it, and these commuters, who would normally be so stoney-faced, smiled like big kids’. Any public art that can inspire someone to hug a London phone box has got to be doing something right.

Written by Ursula Glitch on Tuesday October 26th, 2010 12:02 pm

Categories ,Cancer Research UK, ,Cat O’Neil, ,Crystal Palace Children’s Book Festival, ,Deadly Knitshade, ,Gemma Milly, ,Great Wall of China, ,Knit the City, ,Lauren O’Farrell, ,Magda Sayeg, ,National Wool Week, ,Rosie Shephard, ,Stitch London, ,The Black Sheep Pub, ,The Etherington Brothers, ,The London Stone, ,Trafalgar Square, ,Upper Norwood Public Library, ,Yarnbombing

Amelia’s Magazine | Ghost Forest: Trafalgar Square au natural

Yesterday a group of activists joined representatives from Canada’s First Nation communities to protest against RBS’s continued funding into Tar Sands.

Tar sands is a particularly oily soil which is extracted by using huge open pit mining, price leaving huge 75 meter scars in the wake or by ‘In Situ mining’ which requires huge amounts of natural gas to operate.

Tar Sands extraction is also the dirtiest forms of oil, sildenafil producing 3 to 5 times as much Co2 per barrel as conventional oil, ambulance which shows a desperate attempt by corporations and governments to profit from oil no matter the cost to the environment.

These ‘oil sands’ are found predominately in Canada, which means the US can look to have less reliance on oil from conflict regions such as the middle East. However it doesn’t stop them trampling over Indigenous communities in Canada, polluting the soil, water, turning forests and ecosystems into desolate wastelands and pushing groups of people that have lived sustainably for hundreds of years into extinction.

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation of Northern Alberta, noted: “The tar sands is the world’s largest and most destructive industrial development. “It is destroying an area of ancient forest larger than England. Millions of litres a day of toxic waste are seeping into our groundwater and we are seeing terrifyingly high levels of cancer in our communities.”

The three women also from the First Nation communities had previously attended a meeting in Parliament to deliver an open letter to the Chancellor, Alistar Darling outlining the threat to their homes and were later planning to deliver the letter to an RBS representative.
Shouting and using megaphones they got their messages across and thanked all the people for coming down and showing solidarity with the movement.

Role-playing, shouting and mass dying everyone else on the protest organised by People and Planet, aimed to get their message across on the busy street, plenty of leaflets were also handed out even a fair few press turned up as well as the bankers themselves coming out for their lunch.

RBS is one of the big payers investing into Tar Sands, which they plan to expand production on over the next few decades. What is worse is that RBS is public owned since the banks bailout in 2008. We are effectively funding human rights abuses from Tar Sands extraction through our taxes and our treasury.

The protest yesterday was calling for RBS to shift investments away from projects like the tar sands as well as investment into things like the controversial new coal power plants planned by e-on.

A few of the bankers obviously found it really funny that people would choose to lie on the street and not, instead wear a suit and tie and play with peoples money in the stock market, but hopefully with the continued presence outside the bank hopefully something might start getting into their heads.
Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conference on Climate Change from December 7 to 18, prostate involving 11, viagra 40mg 000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, viagra sale Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability.

It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column. Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmer says: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”

Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay.

Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth.

The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause.

Written by Valerie Pezeron on Thursday November 19th, 2009 6:11 pm

Categories ,activism, ,art, ,climate, ,Climate Change, ,delegates, ,earth, ,ecology, ,exhibition, ,installation, ,london, ,National gallery, ,Trafalgar Square

Amelia’s Magazine | Art listings November 16-22

Angela Palmer’s Ghost Forest

Mediumly-interesting fact: Nelson’s Column stands at 169 feet. The relevance of this morsel? Angela Palmer’s new installation of rainforest tree stumps in Trafalgar Square, sale which would once have stood as tall as the Column but now are rather lower to the ground, pill more roots than trunks. Palmer’s work is intended to highlight the destruction of the rainforest. Much better than the 4th plinth people. That didn’t quite work did it?

Dieter Rams @ The Design Museum

The Design Museum is excellent because it gets down to business: if you can’t sit on it or reasonably hang it on the wall, use it to build bridges or fill a teacup, you won’t find it there. This ethos of substance as well as style echoes the title of the current Dieter Rams exhibition, “Less and More”. He was Head of Design at Braun and every time you see something ergonomic and pleasing to look at on an appliance, like an iPhone for instance, you can see his influence. His ten design principles:

Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is long-lasting.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
Good design is environmentally friendly.
Good design is as little design as possible.

Illustration by Hiromasa Iida

C Words: carbon, climate, capital, culture @ Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol

I’m really looking forward to the Design Competition event at C Words this weekend, hope you are too! The public judging and prize-giving of a design competition for a rebranded RBS as the Royal Bank of Sustainability is convened and co-judged by Amelia Gregory. Artists and designers were asked to create logos or posters communicating something ‘new, possible and radical’.

C Words is a two-month build-up to Copenhagen, using a multitude of free events, installations and discussions to generate interest and action on the topics of carbon emissions, our changing climate, capitalist structures and the culture wars. More about active engagement than simply mulling over points, PLATFORM, a group of artist-activists, aims to question how culture will grow up in the context of a low-carbon future.

Bob & Robert Smith @ Beaconsfield

Bob and Roberta Smith, who is actually one person, will be showing their/his works to celebrate and commiserate the end of their/his residency at the roomy “Factory Outlet” space at Beaconsfield in Vauxhall. Smith is known for painting signs and there are references to the previous usage of the space, as a “ragged school” for poor little boys and girls to learn to read, in the use of text.

Passing Thoughts and Making Plans @ Jerwood Space

This exhibition at the Jerwood Space takes the tack that seeing the process behind an artwork is interesting in itself. This isn’t always the case – looking at the sketches for a work do sometimes make you grateful for the myriad choices the artist had to make to get it to the end result but it can also be a bit boring. This exhibition focuses (ha!) on artists who use photography as part of their process and escapes boredom by including interesting artists such as Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread, whose work you can imagine hinges on perfect recollection of spaces. I am persuaded about this exhibition, but I will never be persuaded about “alternative versions” of songs at the end of special edition albums.

Written by Satu Fox on Monday November 16th, 2009 2:40 pm

Categories ,Angela Palmer, ,arnolfini, ,Beaconsfield, ,Bob and Roberta Smith, ,C words, ,Copenhagen art, ,Cornelia Parker, ,Design Museum, ,Dieter Rams, ,Ghost Forest, ,jerwood space, ,Passing Thoughts and Making Plans, ,platform, ,Trafalgar Square

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