AFFORDABLE ART FAIR WITH THAT HAPPY FACTOR

What a pleasure to wander through the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park after visiting the execrable displays competing for the Turner Prize, earlier in the week. Currently showing until 24th October, the AAF covers what most people define as ‘real art’ - painting, sculpting, print-making and photography.

More than 100 galleries are gathered together under one roof where you can stroll in a simple, well-lit and relaxed environment. Absent is the snobbishness often pervading West End galleries. Here you can chat to the artist about his or her work. There are also hands-on workshops covering everything from print-making, drawing and sculpture to abstract painting.

At previous fairs, I've felt that abstract painting was not well represented so it is good to see it catching up to the ‘farmyard art’ so popular with many British artists. There are still plenty of horses, cows and colourful gardens, but the ratio is now roughly 50-50 with many highly original displays to ponder over.

It is probably invidious to select anything from the level playing field, but I especially liked Trevor Price’s flesh-toned octopus-like couples, Susan Foord’s luminous abstracts and the innovative collages combining nature and antique curiosities called 'Still Remains' exhibited by the Columbia Road Gallery on Stand K8.

The Affordable Art Fair leaves you with that ‘feel good’ factor. And who knows you may even find that statement piece for your flat. Works are priced between £50 and £3000, the exhibition is open from 11am-6pm. Ticket prices from £10-20, children under 16 are free.

AAFs are also held in Amsterdam, New York, Brussels, Sydney and Melbourne with a Singapore launch in November and Milan in February 2011.

www.trevorprice.co.uk

www.affordableartfair.com

FAITH TOURISM: tour de force in the holiday industry

Religion is historically associated with travel. Many of today’s popular destinations are founded on ancient places of worship, the site of miracles, or great monuments and works of art.

Pilgrims travelling to such well trod places were effectively the world’s first tourists. Hospices in Europe were the harbingers of hotels and keeping abreast of the time, specialist religious travel guides list monasteries and convents where guests are welcome to stay.*

An upsurge in religious tourism began following the collapse of Communism when peoples of the former Soviet Republics became legally able to worship in churches and at historic shrines. Volga cruises visiting ancient wooden churches and cathedrals have become popular. More hikers than ever are following the camino de Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain, the painted monasteries are a top attraction in Rumania as are the fabled rock churches of Lalibela and Gonder in Ethiopia.

With a history rooted in Byzantine monasteries and churches, in 2006 Cyprus initiated the first ever international conference on religious tourism - a move which has paid huge dividends. The following year, a Vatican approved charter airline began flying religious tourists to sacred sites in Europe.

The Catholic centre of Lourdes, with a population of only 15,000, receives 6 million religious tourists and devotees seeking cures. Muslims performing the hajj to Mecca number some 2 million, while the Kumbh Mela in India draws 75 million Hindus along with tourists who can witness the spectacle from the comfort of luxuriously appointed tents.

Cultural and religious tourism enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Some notable examples are Chartres cathedral - famous for its 152 Gothic stained glass windows - in Casablanca, the great Hassan II Mosque holding 25,000 worshippers during prayers, and the dazzling Golden Temple, holy of holies of the Sikhs, in Amritsar.

If Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain stirred mixed emotions, it has made people -- even atheists ---- think about their beliefs and as the stresses of urban life impinge on the individual, more people are likely to consider a spiritual holiday, if not a full blown pilgrimage.

Good Night and God Bless by Trish Clark - http://www.goodnightandgodbless.com

Images: www.worldreligions.co.uk

Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, completed 1963.

Sikh pilgrims have their visit recorded at the Golden Temple.

The iconastasis of the Lazarus Church in Larnaca, Cyprus.

400 YEARS OF RELIGIOUS & ROYAL MEMORABILIA

What I relish about living in London is the sheer number and variety of fascinating exhibitions on at any one time.

Today I visited the 'Treasures of Lambeth Library', marking the 400th anniversary (1610-2010) of its founding in Lambeth Palace, historic residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury, on the south bank of the river Thames.

I`d expected to find a sea of purely ecclesiastical volumes from the collection of around 6,000 early books and manuscripts lining the Great Hall.

Instead I found myself gazing on such unique items as Charles Ist`s leather gloves (handed to the Bishop of London who attended him on the scaffold), a letter written by Elizabeth I informing the Earl of Shrewsbury of her recovery from smallpox, and the royal physician`s report, dated 1811 referring to the `malady` of King George: `He was so turbulent this morning we had to use restraints”…

Evocative stuff, but the main body of the exhibition is devoted to early books, many lavishly and meticulously illustrated such as the twelfth century Lambeth Bible whose frontispiece to the Book of Genesis is considered a masterpiece of Romanesque art and the pocket-sized MacDurnan Gospels, written in Ireland and gifted to Christ Church, Canterbury by the King of Wessex c.939.

Equally fascinating is the personal prayer-book of Elizabeth I believed to have been designed by Levina Teerlink, the Flemish miniaturist who served as painter to the Tudor Court.

Other key items which caught my eye were an extremely rare Babylonian Talmud, a Byzantine manuscript from Constantinople and papers relating to the reconstruction of St Paul`s cathedral following the Great Fire of London.

Great names from the past jog the memory: there is a set of the works of Aristotle printed in fifteenth century Venice and a nautical chart on vellum depicting the voyages of Magellan in the then known world. Samuel Pepys is among several historic celebrities noted in a book of benefactors.

I could only gaze in awe at such treasures and while to name a single item is almost invidious, I would say the copy of the warrant for Mary Queen of Scot`s execution, signed by Elizabeth I is not to be missed.

Such a unique exhibition will never travel overseas so London visitors are well advised to visit the library before the heavy doors swing shut on 23rd July. open 10.00-17.000 Mon-Saturday.

Images courtesy: www. Lambethpalacelibrary.org

MacDurnan Gospels, 9th century St Matthew`s Gospel.

Prayer-book of Elizabeth I depicting the Queen kneeling in prayer.

Copy of the warrant for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots

signed 8 February 1587

AFFORDABLE ART FAIR HAS SOMETHING FOR ALL TASTES AND POCKETS

The crocuses are up: it`s time for the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park!

I attend the fair every year and rate it as one of the most enjoyable occasions in the London Art Calendar. So do other art lovers: a record 25,000 people visited the show on its 10th anniversary in 2009.

The AAF which is now international (Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Milan, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne) is the creation of Will Ramsay whose aim was to remove the formality out of buying art.

Ever felt inhibited about going into a gallery off the street? The receptionist is sitting at a desk ignoring you. Or pestering you about what she/he likes and not what caught your eye in the first place? Or left alone, have you latched onto a painting, only to find it way above your price range?

Well yes. It happens to a lot of us which is why the AAF is so popular. There`s no pressure to buy and with prices starting at £50 and a ceiling of £3,000, it`s affordable to to all. And many artists themselves are there to discuss their work.

This year there are 120 stands displaying everything from fine art and contemporary painting, to sculpture in almost every medium you can think of and yes, photographs - woo-hoo!

Of course collecting art is a very personal experience, but I particularly liked the prints based on Iraqi folk-tales by South African-born Susan Moxley. The fine abstracts encapsulating emotion and thought, by young Worcestershire artist Kelly Washbourne also stood out among the thousands of colourful works.

Affordable Art Fair runs from 11th -14 March.

Photo: Rising young artist KellyWashbourne

Photo: Susan Moxley with her prints

Source: www.copix.co.uk

CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS

What does Christmas mean to you? A bonus at work, extended shopping hours, more cooking, school holidays, the Pope`s Benediction and the Queen`s message to her subjects, a new version of Silent Night, greeting cards, office parties, eating and drinking, giving and receiving - the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ?

25th December unites Christians everywhere, but while church rites are similar, celebrations follow many variations on the theme.

In Holland, festivities start on 6th December, when St.Nicholas and his servant Black Peter, ride through Amsterdam to the Damrak where they are offered a beaker of wine by the Mayor. On Christmas Eve, the tree is decorated, baby Jesus is placed in a crib by the fireplace, and coats buttoned against the cold, the family walks to a midnight church service. On the morning of the 25th they open gifts and enjoy a breakfast of cold meats and raisin bread. Relatives call for drinks and the main meal, at either lunchtime or night, is a formal dinner of baked turkey, or hare, accompanied by chestnuts and veg.

Any child who simply writes to: Santa Claus, Kiruna, Sweden is guaranteed a reply as the Swedish postal administration makes provision to answer all Christmas mail. But the Swedes believe it is illogical for Jultomten to climb down a chimney, so instead they leave a window open! Christmas is celebrated on 24th December when the family gathers to sing carols and to dance around the Christmas tree. In the kitchen the ham is removed from the pot, and everyone takes a turn to dip a piece of bread in the bouillon before sitting around the table set with a roasted pig - apple in its mouth- and an elaborate smorgasbord.

Like all religious festivities in Iberia, Spaniards celebrate Christmas with mucho gusto including street markets, wandering musicians and pantomimes. Christmas dinner, eaten on la noche buena - begins with baked cod, followed by roast poultry, and ends with a sweet almond soup. The family attends midnight Mass and on the morning of the 25th they make a traditional paseo to wish everyone Felices Pascuas!

Christmas markets are a highlight of the festive season in the Czech Republic, one of the biggest displays being on the Old Town Square in Prague. Parents hide the fir-tree until Christmas eve when it is decorated, and the children are brought in and told it is a gift from Jesus on his birthday. The family then eats a traditional meal of baked carp,and after opening their presents, many attend a Christmas Eve church service. The vanocka (Christmas cake) is cut for breakfast on 25th and the main meal, eaten that evening, will be likely baked goose or turkey, served with vegetables including the inevitable cabbage, as well as dumplings.

The former Portuguese colony of Goa, on the Malabar coast of India, counts hundreds of Catholic churches, but nowhere celebrates Christmas more passionately than Nossa Senhora dous Remedios in the rural province of Salcete where three boys are chosen to play the three wise men from the east at the Festa de los Reis Magos. On 6th January, the Kings lead a procession winding through the coconut palms up to the church where a High Mass is said in Konkini and the boys bring their presents to the priest. The large crowds eventually drift home to dine on chicken and fish curries, followed by tropical fruits and pastries, and those who managed to touch a crown worn by one of the Kings, are filled with joy of blessings in the new year.

Old traditions die hard in Australia which continues to celebrate an English-style Christmas with pine trees and snow in the heat of mid-summer. And a typical Aussie Christmas is often held outdoors with parents driving up to 300 miles to reach a favourite camp-site. Kids get up early to help erect an artificial tree beside the tent, or caravan, and somehow mother manages to throw a shrimp on the barbie and serve baked poultry with all the trimmings.

By evening most people have had a swim and are enjoying drinks with fellow campers when there is a rumble of thunder and wearing only shorts and t-shirts, everyone rushes in to escape the storm. Mother is heard saying the washing-up will keep till tomorrow, while Dad`s last words are: `Christ, we forgot to go to church again this year!`

c.Christine Osborne

Images: www.worldreligions.co.uk