agi

arts&culture

LONDON

LOndon AyuBa Suleiman Diallo DiSplay NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

LOndon Pop Art DeSign BarBican Art Gallery An immersion into the world of Pop the innovative, exciting and zany art, design, furniture and advertising made during the 1960s which has changed the course of modern visuality UNTIL 9 FEB 2014 www.barbican.org.uk

PEARLS: VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

BY RANBIR JHUTTY

LONDON Masterpieces Of Chinese Painting: 7001900 V&A A fascinating journey of Chinese art from monastery scrolls to imperial works which all reveal the fine artistry of life and land UNTIL 19 JAN 2014 www.v&a.org.uk

A special display of the first British portrait of a Black Muslim and of a freed slave, on loan from Museum of Doha, Qatar UNTIL MARCH 2014 www.npg.org.uk/diallo

The desire, joy and power they invoked is well documented throughout painting, literature, song and surviving examples all of which have been called upon and assembled here
From Cleopatra reputedly dissolving pearls in wine to drink to the Mughal emperors pearl inlaid daggers and Marie Antoinettes and the Indian Maharajas swathes of pearl necklaces, Asian and Western civilisations alike have professed a copious appetite for pearls. A miracle of nature, synonymous with luxury and regal riches, pearls have long symbolised to most cultures the characteristics of the moon, loyalty, faithfulness and purity. The desire, joy and power they invoked is well documented throughout painting, literature, song and surviving examples all of which have been called upon and assembled here by the V&A to great effect. In conjunction with the Qatar Museums Authority - now the worlds leading buyer of Asian and Middle Eastern antiquities, artefacts and works of art and lender of most of the rare specimens assembled in this exhibition the V&A masterfully details the history of harvesting, crafting, wearing, collecting and trading all manner of pearls. A large market of natural pearls was fished along the coast of Qatar and Bahrain from 1000B.C to the middle of the 20th century and the procedure and process seems to remain unchanged. Prices were and still are determined by the colour, shape, size, lustre and quality of this surprising versatile material. Examples of pearls included are arranged chronologically and stylistically; gold hair pins, earrings and bracelets from antiquity; pungently coloured decorations of religious iconography, jewellery and watches throughout the International Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque and Victorian periods - taking us right up to date of the modern era of Mikimoto, contemporary design and wearers such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Coco Chanel. An obvious pitfall of an exhibition focussing entirely on one material - and such a femininely ascribed one as this - is that is becomes dry, specialised and boring. No so with Pearls the display expounds engagingly on a great number of beautiful, notable and curious specimens and artefacts which show off the marvellous range of human and natural processes.
UNTIL 19 JAN 2014 www.v&a.org.uk

SCOTLAND

BIRMINGHAM

GLASGOW

KaBuki: JapaneSe Theatre PrintS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND London Kader Attia WHITECHAPEL GALLERY An immersive installation which questions anthropology, politics and science through the prism of art UNTIL OCT 2014 www.whitechapel.org.uk A unique exhibition of prints detailing the striking practice and design of 19th Japanese Kabuki - the popular form of traditional, all-male, Japanese theatre UNTIL 2 FEB 2014 www.nms.org.uk

Qalam: the art of Beautiful writing BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM Bringing together historic manuscripts, decorated objects and contemporary art, this exhibition celebrates the art of Islamic calligraphy UNTIL 26 JAN 2014 www.bmag.org.uk

Jack Vettriano: a retroSpective KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY, GLASGOW A timely survey of Britains most popular but critically controversial artist UNTIL 23 FEB 2014 www.glasgowlife.org.uk

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