coming+events+(fine+art)

 The outreach dinner for artists and affiliates starved of fine dining returns to the Bistrotheque Cabaret Room on Wednesday 14th October. Over the last few months we have served hearty meals with wine and cheese to draw these malnourished visionaries out from studios and gallery back rooms, to join together for food and vigorous discussion.

The evening is sociable in nature, but stems from a desire to create a forum in which ideas on art, action and optimism can be brought to light and taken forward.

Proceedings are led by Matthew Stone and Daryoush Haj-Najafi, who have invited leading figures in art and theory to speak candidly about their ideas, and their experience of putting them into action.

This month, we’ll be joined by Matthew Collings. As a prolific art broadcaster Matthew has become one of the country’s best known critics, and will be speaking about the role of spirituality in contemporary art, one of theory’s least-covered topics.

In an extension to the format, we’ll also be treated to music by young composer Alex Nikiporenko.

Call Bistrotheque to book for the dinner, including a wholesome main course, a glass of wine and delicious cheeses.

STARVING ARTIST

Wednesday 14th October £11.50 (payable in advance) Call 020 8983 7900 to book

= The Museum of Non Participation = Curated by Artangel Interaction

Karen Mirza and Brad Butler conceived The Museum of Non Participation in 2007 when - during the Pakistani Lawyers movement in Islamabad - they viewed the protests and subsequent state violence from a window in The National Art Gallery.

Since then they have pursued ideas connected to their position that day - through conversation, images, activities and narratives following strands of dialogue to different people, places and contexts.

The project has variously taken the form of film, an Urdu/English language exchange, street interventions, a radio show and performances. On 20 September 2009 a newspaper publication featuring some of the different voices and interpretations of the title was distributed across the UK as a supplement of The Daily Jang - the international newspaper from Pakistan’s oldest and largest media group. This newspaper preceded the official ‘launch’ of The Museum of Non Participation, a month-long occupation of a space behind Yaseen's Barbers Shop on Bethnal Green Road which brings together the multiple faces of the project in a programme of film screenings, talks, discussions, Urdu poetry, and performance. Details of these are below.

All events are free but places are on a first come, first served basis on the day. Further details of the project can be found at: http://www.artangel.org.uk/projects/2008/the_museum_of_non_participation

The Museum of Non Participation 25 Sep - 25 Oct 2009 Behind Yaseen Hairdressers 277 Bethnal Green Rd London E2

Open 1pm to 8pm Tuesday to Saturday Open 1pm to 6pm Sunday Please note Tuesday is Women's only day [details below]


 * Programme details:

On Language as Violence Thursday 1 October, 6-8pm Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Davies leads an informal discussion on the role and power of the media in an international context drawing on ideas in his controversial exposé of the truth behind the headlines, Flat Earth News. Nick Davies has been named Journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year for his investigations into crime, drugs, poverty and other social issues. He is currently freelance, working regularly as a special correspondent for the Guardian.

Writing the City Friday 2nd October, 4-6 pm Kamila Shamsie is the author of four novels, and a regular columnist for the Guardian. She lives in London and Karachi, and is presently teaching in New York State. In this salon, join a discussion on the relationship of writing and literature to the way we imagine the metropolis.

On Collections Thursday 8 October 6-8pm Artist and curator Alana Jelinek delves into the politics and ethics of museum and gallery collections. Alana Jelinek is currently a fellow at the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Future Imaginary Thursday 15 October 6-8pm Critic and curator Fatos Ustek discusses the future of the Museum of Non Participation with Karen Mirza and Brad Butler as a real institution. What might the collection be, and where would it exist? Fatos Ustek is a freelance critic and curator, and edits the online contemporary arts magazine nowiswhere.

Flat Earth Saturday 17 October 6-8 pm John Phillips will give a reading and lead a discussion under the title Flat earth and other stories, don’t participate if you want. Come along for a history of non participation through artistic, political and literary examples. John Phillips co-founded the Paddington Printshop (now the London Print Studio) in 1974. He has devoted much of his life to the running of this highly successful non-profit printmaking workshop, now an established model for many global art-activism initiatives.

The Architecture of Destruction Wednesday 21 October 2-5pm Architect and theorist Eyal Weizman along with other members of Goldsmiths Centre for Research Architecture lead a discussion which interrogates the political relationship of architecture to violence across the globe. Eyal Weizman is an architect, curator and writer based in London. He also directs Goldsmiths College’s Centre for Research Architecture.

Miss B’s Salon behind the Salon Thursday 22 October 6-8 pm Artist Ruth Beale hosts a salon event with Dave Rushton on media and autonomy. Dave Rushton was a member of Art & Language in the 1960’s, he is the founder of the Institute of Local Television and was has been a powerful voice in campaigning for media freedom since the 1970’s. Ruth Beale’s salons take the form of open debates at public galleries taking subjects pertinent to art discourse and artists practice. In the last year subjects have included artists' political responsibilities; copyright; uses of the word 'space'; psychoanalysis and film; attraction to fascist cultural products; and the regulation of social space.

The South Asian Women’s Creative Collective SAWCC Friday 23 October 6-8pm Join the SAWCC in conversation - a network of creative minds and business professionals that exudes a fascinating virtuousness towards the practice of art, reminiscent of the amiable purity of a 1950’s Hollywood romantic classic, and the fierceness that has come to define movements born out of the post war 1970’s feminist movement in America.**

Women's Only Events

An ongoing discussion and series of performances around the issue of The Body, Social Space and the Aesthetic of Resistance led to the decision to create a women only space, posing questions about how women might reclaim space, and imitate, accelerate and "own" everyday encounters. Tuesdays in The Museum of Non Participation seeks to intervene in the assumed power dynamics of the everyday social space in Karachi, London and elsewhere. Women are invited to use this day as they wish, groups and individuals are welcome to initiate as well as participate.

Mushaira Tuesday 6 October, 6-8pm Publisher Rukhsana Yasmin and playwright Yasmin Whittaker Khan host a special women-only Mushaira, or poetry reading. A poetic symposium held in Urdu and English, bring your favourite poems, or ones you have written, to read, share and discuss with a group of women.

Writing and Activism workshop Tuesday 13th October 6-8pm Founding member of Southall Black Sisters, journalist and writer Rahila Gupta draws on her experiences to lead this workshop which explores the relationship between writing and activism.


 * Language Classes

For Urdu speakers wishing to learn English alongside English speakers wishing to learn Urdu. Three versions of The Museum of Non Participation’s original Urdu/English language exchange including beginners’ drop-in sessions, women’s only classes and a continuation of last term’s activities suited to those with some basic experience of both languages.

Introductory class Saturday 10 and Saturday 17 October 1-3 pm Drop in for a taster language class based on exchanging skills in Urdu and English.

Intermediate/beginners class Wednesday 7, 14 and 21 October 6-8pm Led by translator and language teacher, Hasan Sheikh, come for a continuation of our Urdu/English language exchange. For those who have some experience of both languages already.

Women's language exchange Tuesday 29 September 6, 13, 20 October 1-3pm Arjum Wajid has worked as a journalist both in English and Urdu for over 25 years. Her informal language class will provide an environment where English and Urdu speaking women can begin to learn and/or practice and improve their spoken English and Urdu through exchange, activities and conversation with some basic teaching structure.**

Scriptwriting Workshops

Saturday 26 September, 3, 10, 17 October. 4-6 pm The Museum of Non Participation and Zammurad Naqvi lead a series of experimental scriptwriting workshops for a pilot television soap opera in order to develop characters and plot lines that explore Pakistani life in the UK.



Film Screenings

Friday 9, 16 October 6-8 pm Two Friday screening events invite special guests to screen films that articulate their conception of The Museum of Non Participation. Screening details are available at the exhibition space and will be posted on this website soon.

Film Premiere The Exception and the Rule by Karen Mirza and Brad Butler London Film Festival Sun 25 October 2pm NFT3 To Book call BFI ticketing on 020 7928 3232 from 09:30 - 20:30 daily Shot primarily in Karachi, The Exception and the Rule employs a variety of strategies in negotiating consciously political themes. Avoiding traditional documentary modes, the film frames everyday activities within a period of civil unrest, incorporating performances to camera, public interventions and observation. This complex work supplements The Museum of Non Participation. = =