Diary for 21st May to 27th May

THURSDAY 21st May - Felt expressions

Today marks the beginning of an interesting art exhibit held at the Rose Issa Gallery on 269 Kensington High Street called Felt Memories by Bita Ghezelayagh. Bita has experience as an architect and art director of several Iranian films. She started working with felt in 2004, designing her own display tunics and capes. For Bita, the canvasses express memories of growing up in Iran living through the revolution in 1979 and the war in Iraq (1980-88). Bita has found herself heavily influenced by post-revolutionary visual popular culture and includes elements such as pictures, metal keys, and Persian phrases that reflect this influence in her work. The exhibition runs until 20th June. For more information visit this website. For a preview of Bita and some of her tunics take a look at this article.

FRIDAY 22nd May- Celebrating Aboriginal Art

After 6 years of teaching both at primary and secondary level, Basil Hall, decided to train as a print maker in Canberra. Working with Aboriginal artists across a range of Australia's remote communities, Basil Hall has enabled many artists to establish their visions in print, becoming part of a celebrated contemporary art scene. An exhibition of 25 years of his work collaborating with aboriginal artists is currently on at the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery on 2a Conway Street, London. The gallery has gained a reputation for championing Aboriginal and non-Western Art. The exhibit which is called 'Etched in the sun'. It is free and runs until 20th of June. For a preview of some of the art on display take a look here.



SATURDAY 23rd May - Indian Melodies

Indian strings and Dances is a major exhibition currently on at the Museum of Croydon. It features instruments, dance costumes, and video interviews with leading practitioners of classical Indian music and dance traditions. Today from 1-2pm there will be a special guided tour of the exhibition given by the curator and event organisers. Following the tour will be two dance performances at 2:30 and 3:30pm. The first is the Kuchipudi dance, which originated in Andhra Pradesh and is renowned for its grace and elegance. The second is the Manipuri dance which is one of the most 'beautiful classical dances of North East India'. Both the performances and the guided tour are free. For more information about the exhibition and associated events take a look here.

SUNDAY 24th May- Brochures are on their way!

Many of you have emailed asking for copies of Discover Anthropology and Careers in Anthropology brochures produced by the Royal Anthropological Institute's Education Department. For those of you have not yet received your brochures, just to let you know they are on their way! We have recently requested a reprint of the brochures as we ran out of stock. If you have any problems receiving the material, or would like to request additional copies, please email Nafisa Fera at education@therai.org.uk





MONDAY 25th May- Viva la vida

On the 31st of May, Regent street in London will be transformed into a pedestrian friendly Spanish cultural extravaganza. Rather than the usual congested frenzy of cars and people shopping, the street will be traffic free from 12pm-6pm and there will be food, dancing, art, and live performances to celebrate twelve regions in Spain. Some of the programme includes Djs from Ibiza, flamenco dancers, Valencian paella and 30 Royal bagpipers from Galicia! For those of you who still want to shop, stores on Regent street will be taking part in the fiesta by offering promotions and competitions. Anyone interested in continuing their Spanish culinary journey, should visit Borough Market on the 2nd and 3rd of June, for a Spanish Gourmet Festival. To find out more about the programme of events for the 31st as well as see pictures of last year's day, take a look at this website.




TUESDAY 26th May- The Baby and the Buddha

Today I am going to watch a BBC Four documentary called The Baby and the Buddha. The film is produced and directed by Nati Baratz and follows a former Buddhist disciple's search for his reincarnated Tibetan master. The disciple Tenzin, is instructed by the Dalai Lama to search for the reincarnation of this master who is now embodied in a little boy and may be anywhere in the world. Tenzin's spiritual journey takes him through countries, passing mountains and villages, travelling by helicopter, mule and on foot. His journey gives us a rare insight into certain aspects of the Buddhist faith, as well as one man's discovery of himself. You can download and watch the documentary for free here. For an interesting review of the film and discussion of rebirth take a look at this article.


WEDNESDAY 27th May- Rethinking Gender in the 21st Century

A series of seminars exploring the impact of masculinity on health and well-being, are being held at St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford. Today's seminar is called 'Being a Father.. is the Embodiment of Everything I do: African Caribbean Fathers' Accounts of Fatherhood and Health' . The seminar is given by Dr. Robert Williams and Dr. Alistair Hewison from the University of Birmingham, both with extensive experience and background in public health management, organisation and policy. The seminar is free but registration is required. To register email Yiu-tung Suen at yiu.suen@sant.ox.ac.uk. The seminar takes place in the Dahrendorf Room at 5pm. For those of you interested in learning more about men's health and well-being, take a look at the Men's Health Forum, an active charity involved in organising National Men's Health week 2009 which will take place in June.