Richard Long

"A nature-lover and walker from an early age, Froebel had a passion for the patterns of phenomena, and in particular for what he called “the deeper lying unity of natural objects”. It was for this reason that the early Froebelian kindergartens had few figurative toys. Instead of trains, dolls and knights, there were wooden cubes and spheres, coloured squares and circles, pebbles, shells and pick-up-sticks....”

by Robert MacFarlane

Richard Long first studied at the College of Art in Bristol going on to further studies at St Martin's School of Art in London. His work uses 'walking' as a method to generate sculpture and photographs and text based work which have become a hallmark of land based artwork during the 1970's and 1980's.

His earliest pieces were made in his local environment of Bristol but since his reputation has grown in International terms his work has taken him worldwide. He has exhibited in over 300 group and solo exhibitions since 1975 and his work is included in the collection of every major contemporary art museum. In London's Tate Modern his work was installed in a gallery in the opening selection of work in May 2000, alongside that of Claude Monet whose work also reflects a relationship with nature.

I felt that i can relate my work to Richard Long for he creates archetypal geometric forms such as circles and spirals using natural materials. This is a good reference for the development of my audience brief.

My first Visit

Sometimes when things happen in life it makes you wonder why...everything happens for a reason but what's the reason is the question.
Life experiences change your perspective of life and makes you realize things. My first visit to St James hospital was with my mum in emergency. This built a whole new meaning of my project content and the relevance of it. While i sat there in fear it made me think of many things on a deeper level. My practice exploring the theme of Spirituality and Faith enhanced it even more after this. I prayed whilst waiting...now that place is not just an exhibition space for me but the presense of spirtiuality and hope. My faith protected my mum and now she is getting better... a memorable experience....

Art Babble

ArtBabble: the YouTube of the arts
From Richard Serra to origami, there's a new place to watch arts films on the web. Ruth Jamieson delves into ArtBabble's fascinating online collection
Ruth Jamieson
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 April 2009 13.05 BST


Where the BBC's iPlayer made watching TV on your computer as natural as writing an email, ArtBabble.org is set to do the same for viewing arts films. Now, instead of catching up on EastEnders, you can broaden your mind with arts films from a handful of key galleries. The films, all of which can be commented on, shared and interacted with, take you behind the scenes of major art galleries, offer interviews with world-famous artists and transport you to lecture halls all over the globe.

The concept itself was conceived at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA). Co-creator Rob Stein, describes it as, "a website dedicated to telling stories about art." His cohort Daniel Incandela adds, "we wanted to create a community focused site that delivered exceptionally high quality video, an interactive viewing experience and a great diversity of content from multiple sources." Both agree that the aim is to create, the online destination for video art content. The success of their blustering mission statement remains to be seen, but what the pair have made is a fairly impressive arts video portal, matchmaking arts lovers with high quality arts videos produced in galleries all over the US.

After a year or so of testing, IMA has opened Artbabble's doors this month to recruit more arts institutions to supply content to the site. Alongside IMA's in-house material, ArtBabble now includes videos from the Museums of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, Art21, the New York Public Library and Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Highlights include Brice Martin on his painting Cold Mountain (SFMOMA Artcast); the installation of Richard Serra's Torqued Ellipse IV and Intersection II to the Rockerfeller Sculpture Garden; the Design by the Book series where various artists draw inspiration from the New York Public Library; a conversation with the rather wonderful Jenny Holzer; (Art21) and Magnificent 11, a documentary celebrating some of Los Angeles's greatest permanent collection artworks (LACMA).

UK readers will note that as interesting as it all sounds, the Tate has been offering a vaguely similar – if more limited – service for a few years. On their site, you can go on a studio tour with Jeff Koons, browse through the gallery's recordings of talks with artists, and watch some of the performances hosted in Tate Modern. Logic would dictate that if ArtBabble really is committed to becoming the go-to site for arts enthusiasts, it won't be long before it bundles these – and more from multimedia arts institutions worldwide – in one place.

But what makes the site exciting isn't just its breadth of content; it's the depth. Throughout the films on ArtBabble, "notes" appear on the right hand of the scene, attached to relevant points in the film. If another artist is referred to, a "note" links to their Wikipedia entry, if a news event crops up, there's a link to the newspaper report. So, in a half-hour talk about the Hello Kitty brand you're offered a link to the online home of Hello Kitty, Japanese tourism information and an introduction to Anime. In a film about the Louvre's restoration of Greek and Roman sculptures, you'll be given an introduction to mosaic, a primer on Greek mythology and suggestions for further viewing. You can even attach your own notes to a relevant frame of the film, rather than in a comments section below.

ArtBabble has, essentially, been described as YouTube for the arts, but with a name like "Artbabble" you might wonder if it's in danger of being a little up its own tube. But, the site is saved by its execution: notably, a very sweetly-designed intuitive interface, simple pen-on-paper look and tasteful pastel pallet. Importantly, it is as truly accessible to someone who might sneer at the Turner prize, as it is to a critic who sits on the judging panel. And yes, while arts video content already exists on the web, it is still scattered. You can hunt it down in the dusty "online wings" of some galleries, or make a stab at finding it on YouTube and Blip.tv, but it is, in the main, sidelined. Hopefully, with ArtBabble, online arts videos have graduated to a place of their own where they can be nurtured, loved and easily discovered.

Guardian Article

Sunnis and Shias


As thousands of Iraqi Shias make the pilgrimage to Kerbala for the first time in many years, here's a guide to the main branches of Islam
Zebunnisa Hamid
Wednesday 23 April 2003 11.16 BST



What is Islam?


Islam is one of the three monotheistic religions, along with Christianity and Judaism. Islam in Arabic means "submission" and is derived from the Arabic root Salema, meaning "peace, purity, submission, and obedience". Islam is the submission to the will of god, or Allah. There are an estimated 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, making Islam the second largest religion in the world. The Muslim holy book is the Koran.


Who is Mohammed?


Muslims believe in a number of prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elias, Jonah, John the Baptist, and Jesus. But Muslims believe it was the Prophet Mohammed who received the word of God through the Angel Gabriel for 23 years.
As Mohammed preached Islam he was prosecuted by leaders of Mecca, the Quarish, and had to leave Mecca for Medina with a small group of followers in the year 622 AD. This event is known as the Hijra, or migration, and marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar (It is now 1424 H. in the Muslim calendar). The Prophet Mohammed was later able to return to Mecca in 629 AD. He died in 632 AD at the age of 63.


What are the five pillars of Islam?


The five pillars of Islam are faith, prayer, zakat, fasting, and Hajj. The declaration of faith is called the Shahada, which says that there is no god but God and Mohammed is his prophet. Prayers are performed five times a day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall. Zakat means "purification" and "growth" and requires Muslims to give a portion of their wealth to the needy.


Fasting takes place every year for a month during Ramadan, when from sunrise to sunset Muslims abstain from food, drink and sexual relations in a form of self-purification. The final and fifth pillar is Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, a requirement at least once in their lives for all Muslims who are physically and financially able to go.


What are the different branches of Islam?


There are many branches of Islam with Sunni and Shia being the two major ones. Some of the other branches are Sufi, Wahhabi, and Ismaili. The vast majority of Muslims (about 83%) are Sunnis. The difference between the two groups started as political but has become more and more theological over time.
The split came after the death of the Prophet Mohammed. Sunnis believe that Ali, the cousin of the Prophet and the husband of Mohammed's daughter Fatima, was the fourth and last of the caliphs (successors of Mohammed), the first three being Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman.
Shias, however, believe that Ali should have been the first caliph and that the caliphate should be passed down only to direct descendants of Prophet Mohammed through Ali and Fatima.
After Uthman, Ali succeeded as caliph. He was opposed by Aisha, the Prophet's wife and the daughter of Abu Bakr. Ali's forces defeated Aisha's but he was still opposed by Mu'awiyya Ummayad, Uthman's cousin and the governor of Damascus. After Ali's death, the caliphate went to Mu'awiyya instead of Ali's sons, Hassan and Hussein.
How are Sunnis and Shias divided geographically?
While Sunnis are the majority in most Muslim countries, in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain the majority of Muslims are Shias. In Iran, Shias make up an estimated 93% of the total of the Muslim population. In Iraq, they make up more than 60% of the Muslim population.


How were the Shias treated under Saddam?


The marja'iyya, the highest acknowledged authority of the Shias, have a strong influence on Shias in southern Iraq and in the poor districts of Baghdad where many Shias live in very poor conditions. Under Saddam Hussein, they played no direct role in government. The regime managed to control and suppress its Shia population, and many clerics said to be of Iranian origin were expelled to Iran. Schools were forbidden to teach Shia; the curriculum taught only Sunni Islam.
Around the time of the Iranian revolution in 1979, thousands of Shias in Iraq were accused of belonging to al-Da'wa, the largest underground Shia political organisation. Shias were targeted, some were killed, and many were expelled to Iran. In the 1980s as Saddam waged an eight-year war against Iran, he also targeted Iraq's Shia population by accusing them of having connections with Iran and not being patriotic. The Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei refused to lend his support to the war and many of his allies were arrested.
In 1991, Saddam had shrines, homes, shops, and religious centres in Kerbala, a holy city for Muslims and especially Shias, destroyed. After the 1991 Gulf war precipitated by Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, President George Bush Snr told the Iraqi people to rise against Saddam. The Kurds and Shias did so, but the US did not protect them from Saddam and many lost their lives in the ensuing harsh crackdown. However, the removal of Saddam now opens the possibilities of Iraqi Shias playing a large role in Iraq's new government.


What is the significance of Kerbala?


Kerbala is one of the holiest cities for Muslims, in particular Shias. In 680 AD, Hussein, Prophet Mohammed's grandson, was promised the caliphate after the death of Mu'awiyya, but the promise was broken and Yazid took over. With a small army of 70 men, women and children, Hussein met Yazid in Kerbala. Hussein was deprived of food and water and was killed, as were all those with him.
This is remembered during the first 10 days of Muharram, which is the first month of the Hijri Calendar. Before the event was banned by Saddam, an annual pilgrimage by Shias to Kerbala commemorated the death of Imam Hussein. This year, the fall of Saddam has seen thousands attending the pilgrimage again.

Shahida Ahmed

How did your interest in Art develop?

My interest in art developed at an early age because we were a very creative family. I think it was something that was in our blood. My mother designed clothes, she stitched them and had a great vision for textiles, and my sister, who was older than me, went to study art at F.E. College. My grandfather's brother was very creative and produced many paintings in water colours in India and Pakistan. These were mainly of landscape.
In my teens at Edge End High School in Nelson I won a competition with the local army store designing a poster for keeping Pendle tidy. The prize was a tree for the school grounds. Mum had always encouraged us to be creative at home - we made our own dolls out of rags and cut fabric and we designed our Asian clothes. We were taught to cook and make many food dishes that were our own ingredients; my mother was the first ambassador who enabled us as children to explore creativity. When my parents established their business in textiles 'Shehzad Textiles' we were introduced to colours, fabric, textures, different materials and the textiles industry in the 1970s. The other thing I vividly remember as a child is decorating our house, interiors, wallpaper and furnishing.
My earlier works were exploring colour, using patterns and picking up on textures and fabrics that surrounded our environment. This included screen printing fabric and making clothes out of them.
My parents were very supportive for us pursuing a career in whatever field any of us chose to do. I came from a large extended family of eight siblings and all of us were just encouraged to gain an education in the fields we were most comfortable.

How would you describe your work?

My work is recognised for being traditional; by this I mean the influence of heritage plays a huge role in my work. I use Islamic calligraphy, patterns, buildings and lots of textures and colour. The main body of my work is in clay and I have recently started painting. When you see my clay works they look like old authentic pieces from many hundreds of years ago. The colours are earthy and blues inspired by the blue mosque in Istanbul. The clay forms are amalgamated textures which fuse in a very high order to show traditional art. I use stoneware and raku firing in my pottery. My paintings are colourful and very textural. I have used an un-faced figure in the whirling dervish figure inspired by the poet Rumi.
How has your work changed from your early work?

My work has changed; it has matured in style and no longer sketch and design. I can get a piece of clay and allow the clay to mould into an art piece from inspiration within. I manipulate it to make something that comes from experience and visual imaginations of my travels and thoughts. My journey to Islam allows me to focus on my theme. I think many artists use art as an expression and that is exactly what I have tried to do with my work.
My work has also led me to develop arts within the community - such as children's art groups, women's art group and also the first ever South Asian and Middle Eastern arts company in Pendle.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Travelling, poetry, Islam and traditional arts. I am influenced by drawings of Sadequin and Gulgee's work. I also like the works of Jim Robison.


How do you think Lancashire and Pakistan have influenced your work?

Lancashire: The journey my family had from India to Pakistan to Lancashire was all due to the cotton industry.
My father and uncles were all weavers when they came to the UK, I remember removing the fluff from my father's ears and the smell of cotton from the weaving shed. He use to bring fabric home and I remember we used it to play with and make things out of it. Later they developed their own business and Lancashire contributed to this very much. The cotton link stemmed from Pakistan/India where weaving and cotton was a great industry. My grandparents and family all came to Lancashire and were very much part of the weaving industry. Lancashire contributes to our migration to the UK from India to Pakistan and then Nelson.
Having settled in the UK and having children my parents always had their roots in Pakistan but had accepted that England was home. I was 19 when I first went to Pakistan and was overwhelmed with the art scene in Pakistan and the wealth of culture and architecture. This inspired me to develop the theme in my work and use the architecture from the city of Lahore into my work. I felt I had been ignorant about my culture and heritage and through art I wanted to share that through my work with others. I wanted to share my history and identity which was one of many people who also had moved to Lancashire because of the cotton industry. After the death of my beloved parents I decided that I would share a message of my cultural history to an audience, as art is always a positive medium to use. I am proud of my historical background and my culture and feel as an artist I can share this with others to create understanding.

The theme of Shahida's work is similar to mines about unity and peace. After meeting Shahida Ahmed i was very inspired and was amazed at the amount of interest we share.