Cathy's Art Diary

Bright exhibition at Charleston Farmhouse of new works by British born South Asian artist Osman Yousefzada. The works ranged from drawings to textiles and the colour, particularly of the textiles, hit you after the more subdued Hockney drawings they were shown with. Evidently, they reimagine the working class migration experience but I’m not sure I’d have got that from them. However I did love their bold effect and the way they combined materials. Closes 10 March 2023  

Fascinating discussion at Charleston Farmhouse as part of the Charleston Festival on the social and historical role of fashion. Ably chaired by journalist and broadcaster Bidisha Mamata, designer/artist, Osman Yousefzada and x editor of Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, discussed their relationship with clothes. This then branched out into current sociological and economic impact of the fashion industry from the fact we have invented fabrics that can take 500 years to decay to the role of second-hand clothes. Charleston Festival had over 40 talks over nearly two weeks and I booked to go to them all! If I blog all of them I’ll be here for ever so, as last year, I’ll cover events on art, fashion and design in the blog. That’s not to say ask the others weren’t fabulous too. It was also sometime hard to find an appropriate picture so I’ve used photographs I took of the garden instead.

Three site specific installations at the Victoria and Albert Museum by Osman Yousefzada responding to the 75th anniversary of Pakistan. In the entrance hall were there were three bright banners representing Talismanic figures and storytelling. They made a dramatic statement in this familiar space. By one of the staircases was a tower of encased household objects representing the bundles migrant women, such as his mother, travelled with. I liked the variety of textures. My favourite pieces were remodelled furniture in the courtyard. He had taken old tables, bed etc and added wooden tops in recycled clothing waste and other found objects. I loved this one which had being a door. Closed 25 September 2022