I went to the Museum the other day and meandered around their new exhibition in the gallery titled ‘I Matter’.To be honest, it wasn’t actually on my list of things to see (as I’m not into much art), but I had time on my hands so ventured in to see what it was all about. I’m glad I did, as I found some beautiful, creative and very different pieces that I’m glad I didn’t miss.
What does ‘I matter’ mean?
‘I Matter’ means that no matter where I come from or who I am or what I look like, I matter as an individual. And, no matter how I view the world or how the world views me, I matter to those who care about me…..
Our greatest strength is in our mutual respect for every individual. Our collective strength is that together WE ALL MATTER!
After reading this first line of text I wanted to see more of what was around me in the gallery. Already tempted to look at some of the excellent works that I could see already, before reading.
So what particularly caught my eye when I was there?
On entry you see a line of people in prayer, a very colourful set with multicoloured frames Dhikr III, Dua-IV, Dua-V, Dua-VIII & iAzaan II created by Teakster, digital artist (watercolour powder, pink ink and spray paint on paper.) It made me think about different religions.
The second piece of art to catch my eye looked like flowers in a meadow, so I was curious – on getting closer it evolved into a large group of people – such a clever transformation of simply blue, yellow and white on canvas by Suchi Chidambaram, painter – Parallel Conversation – beautiful.
There was an interesting set of four colourful cracked discs on the wall, maybe a portrait of the artist in a mirror, maybe not? by James Chen-Wishart, visual artist: Reflecting in Circles (glaze, copper, epoxy clay and gold leaf on ceramic)
Stepping into the atrium I was confronted with a table full of paper boats, surrounded on the walls by some ‘boat’ geographic drawings: Tumble – these boats refer to the Pandemic – they are all separate but different. They speak of how we are all individuals with our own stories, but also, all part of the planet’s story. (NB I’m not quite sure if they were part of the I Matter or not…. )
In the third room were some very colourful pieces of art – Prince was very captivating, an extremely clever collage created from digital print by Torn Revenue – the artwork friend next to him (Biggy Smalls) actually reminded me of Mr Benn! (oops showing my age)
The last one I found very attractive to look at – to me a very 60’s style piece (in my opinion, as I’m no expert or critic) with the bright colours giving the image of a hot summer’s day with gorgeous green and gold earrings by Hana Sadrai, painter: Ikon (acrylic and gilding on canvas)
‘I Matter’ is curated by Olu Taiwo, a Lincolnshire based artist, and is formed of work created by artists from 15 Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and communities. It will be at the museum’s art gallery until 28th November and is FREE to enter. You’ll find his introduction below)
The full last of artists is: Anthony Shintai, Eddie Saint-Jean, Jaffar Aly, James Chen-Wishart, Jay Morally, Kinnari Saraiya, Manuel Hechavarria, Parham Ghalamdar, Rayhan Miah, Roy Joseph Butler, Hana Sadrai, Suchi Chidambaram, Suman Gujral, Teakster and Thomas Soyemi.
It’s always worth just popping into the museum to see what’s going on, it’s FREE to enter unless it’s a specific event. But well worth not missing at times.
