Cromwell Place: June 8th - Exhibition of 4 MENA Galleries

On June 8th, Cromwell Place welcomed guests to view four middle eastern galleries exhibiting. Tagreed Darghouth: A City Undisguised; Beirut: No Home No Exile. Janet Rady: Les Femmes de Madi. Thameur Mejri: Over the Edge, & Thingamajig.

Within the pavilion gallery, Neda Razavipour, an Iranian artist stood out with her installation performance work, Edge of Chaos. She had first made the work in 2015, and documented it as a film. Today she is reworking the ‘chaos’ and giving it what she calls a new order. She says that her decision to re-work the installation is due to a sense of evolving. While I chat to her, she takes sip of her wine and then places the glass, still full, directly inside the centre of the chaos. She continues to rearrange the broken fragments methodically into their new structure. After visiting the other galleries, I find that the structure has changed once again.

Photo Credit: Jonathan A Milton

Janet Rady’s Femmes du Madi

To immediately address the elephant in the room, the beautiful series recalls Picasso and Matisse, in the most non-pastiche way. Elegant and vibrant, Madi creates a modern spin to these prints. Yes, prints, I said. These are cleverly printed onto canvas and on close inspection it is hard to tell the difference between a painting. The room has an immensely positive energy. The colours are modern and uplifting. The room is buzzing (with people), but also with life and light.