Yugantar, India’s first feminist film collective, was founded in Bangalore by friends and filmmakers Abha Bhaiya, Navroze Contractor, Deepa Dhanraj, and Meera Rao. Operating between 1980 and 1983, during a time of radical political transformation, Yugantar created four pioneering films together with existing or ensuing women’s groups, including domestic workers in Pune (Molkarin, 1981), female…
Born in Novara, Italy in 1932, celebrated Italian postmodernist artist, writer, and product and furniture designer Enzo Mari passed away yesterday, 19 October 2020. A fervent believer in the notion that good design should be available to all, and not just a privileged few, Mari’s dynamic practice incorporated explorations of the Arts and Crafts movement,…
Celebrated Japanese-French fashion designer Kenzō Takada, born 27 February 1939, passed away earlier this week, on 4 October 2020, following complications with Covid-19. Takada founded his eponymous fashion house Kenzo in 1970, becoming well known for fusing Asian and Japanese influenced styles with constructions traditionally associated with European fashion. He remained prolific until his passing,…
This autumn, from 7 October 2020, Barbican Art Gallery stages the first ever major exhibition on the groundbreaking dancer and choreographer Michael Clark. Exploring his unique combination of classical and contemporary culture, Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer unfolds as a constellation of striking portraits of Clark through the eyes of eminent collaborators and world-renowned artists including Charles Atlas, BodyMap,…
Gordon Parks (1912-2006) was a humanitarian with a deep and life-long commitment to social justice. Born into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott, Kansas, he developed a deeply personal style of photography with a focus on race relations, civil rights and urban life. Parks left behind an exceptional body of work; a legacy that documented…
Born in Wolverhampton, England, in 1979, The BLK Art Group, originally self dubbed the Pan-Afrikan Connection, was an association of young Black artists who, inspired by America’s Black Arts Movement (BAM), sought to empower and amplify Black voices and resources within Britain. All of the members of the group were children of Caribbean migrants largely…
Bulgarian-born artist Christo, best known for wrapping buildings and famous landmarks in fabric, passed away earlier this week at his home in New York, aged 84. Christo’s early education in Soviet Socialist Realism, and his experience as a refugee of political revolution, were influences firmly embedded in the artist’s practice. His 35-year long collaboration with…
An instrumental figure in the history of contemporary Italian art and design, Nanda Vigo was a multidisciplinary pioneer whose diverse career, spanning over six decades, has influenced generations of cultural producers. Vigo passed away earlier this month, on 16 May 2020, at eighty-three years old. The Milanese avant-gardiste was a forerunner of minimalist contemporary Italian…