The Tamarind » The Tamarind

First Meeting of the UNAOC Fellowship Alumni in Baku, Azerbaijan

The Tamarind — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:23:13 +0000

On 31 May, sildenafil 2013, 60 alumni from the UN Alliance of Civilizations Fellowship Programme will convene in Baku, Azerbaijan. The alumni meeting is taking place in the context of the Second World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue. The forum will allow alumni of the Fellowship Programme to share their experiences with a broader community of policymakers and practitioners in the field of cross-cultural understanding.

The fellows hail from a number of regions, including North America, Europe and the Middle East and North Africa, and participated in the programme between 2010 and 2012. This will be the first opportunity for the alumni, all of whom are advocates for dialogue and understanding between the Western and the Muslim worlds, to meet each other. This meeting will also enable the group to work toward creating a loose but vibrant network.

As an exposure tour for young emerging leaders, the Fellowship Programme is unique in that it is jointly developed in partnership with Arab, European, and US partners: the League of Arab States, the British Council, ISESCO, Qatar Committee for the Alliance of Civilizations and the Institute for International Education.

The program is funded through grants from the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the Hermes Foundation.

European and North American Fellows - Fall 2012 edition (Photo courtesy of Alex Cottin)

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The Fellowship Programme annually convenes emerging leaders from the Muslim World and the West, and provides them with travel opportunities in each other’s regions. Arab fellows travel to three European countries and the United States. US and European fellows travel to three countries in the Arab World. Among them, Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi, founder of Il Tamarindo.

The Tamarind loves: TOMS Shoes

The Tamarind — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:51:29 +0000

One simple idea: to donate shoes to children in developing countries. Such a donation can prevent soil-transmitted infections and injuries in children around the world. But not only: as shoes are often part of a school uniform, cialis barefoot children are also prevented an education. These observations lead American traveller Blake Mycoskie to create TOMS Shoes, cialis a clever charitable project based on a basic equation: for every pair of shoes purchased by a TOMS Shoes customer, capsule a pair will be donated to children in need. Founded in 2006, the project has already surpassed the impressive amount of 1,000,000 pairs of shoes donated from Zambia to Guatemala. A range of appealing products is offered, with quirky details – such as simple espadrilles in beige, blue or military green colours but boasting a lining with drawn buffalos. Check out some of the products at toms.com – and remember: “With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.TM”

In the mood for art fairs?

The Tamarind — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 23:26:34 +0000

The art world is meeting up in London this week. The familiar faces that can be spotted in Basel, unhealthy Miami and Maastricht and at the major sales in New York, everyone is now in London, conveying in Regent’s Parks for the opening of Frieze (13^th October). A social event rather than an art fair, Frieze is mostly about the VIP passes rather than the actual works of art – unless that was our impression at the previous editions – and events are now scattered all-day-long, from breakfast until… well, the party doesn’t stop. Albeit somewhat irritating, Frieze has become the event in October and it is unmissable, alongside the evening sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s and Walid Raad’s opening at Whitechapel gallery. But so many more fairs are taking place simultaneously in the artistic frenzy that will last until Sunday. Moniker International Art Fair takes place in Shoreditch (14-17^th October) and “offers a cutting edge compliment to Frieze, while attracting buyers seeking a modern forward thinking approach within this ever changing, highly dynamic, expansive 21^st century international contemporary art scene”. Still in Shoreditch, The future can wait is also conceived to compliment Frieze-week and curators Zavier Ellis and Simon Rumley have chosen Shoreditch Town Hall’s “ghostly Victorian basement” as its setting. Superdesign celebrates its fourth anniversary in Bloomsbury (14-17^th October). Multiplied is hosted by Christie’s and aims to promote emerging talents (15-18^th October). Sunday Fair showcases the work of twenty young galleries in Marylebone (14-16^th October). An overwhelming amount of art? Indeed. And instead of fighting for a VIP pass for Frieze, we recommend you head to the Royal College of Art for the 23^rd edition of Art for Youth. Over 1,000 pieces of art by new and established artists go on display, including oils, watercolors, sculptures, ceramics, photographs and jewelry. Artists donate 35% of sales and all proceeds from the Raffle, Auction, “Mystery Pictures” and Silent Auction are 100% donations to the charity. This event has managed so far to raise almost 900,000 £ and while wondering the rooms of RCA the other day we have spotted some pretty interesting works…

The Tamarind saw: Gainsbourg

The Tamarind — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:13:35 +0000

The music and the lyrics are legendary, medicine and so are his women. Serge Gainsbourg relives – the unmistakable voice, sovaldi the cigarettes lit in quick succession – in the latest biopic about a French icon, doctor directed by Joann Sfar and masterfully interpreted by Eric Elmosnino. Following his evolution, from a child learning the piano during German occupation to the young student in art school to the musical myth, the epic story is accompanied by his music. La Javanaise. L’hotel particulier. And of course Je t’aime…moi non plus. And the epic is shared with his muses and lovers: Juliette Gréco (Anna Mouglalis), Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta), Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon, who tragically committed suicide after shooting the movie and to whom it is dedicated). A surreal animation element is absolutly unnecessary to the story and is probably just an attempt for originality, whereas the brilliant performances of the actors and the musical score are by far sufficient to make the movie compelling. A man who revolutionised la chanson , who had the intuition of importing and incorporating reggae and whose story is ultimately pervaded by melancholy.

For all Gainsbourg fans (and not only) the movie can be a catalyst to go home and listen to his records: both his own work (the Histoire of Melody Nelson, but let’s not forget his contribution to Jean-Claude Vannier’s L’enfant assassin des mouches) and also the album Monsieur Gainsbourg revisited, a project coordinated by Jane Birkin in 2006 (15th anniversary of Serge’s death) in which his most famous songs are interpreted in English by the likes of Michael Stipe, Marianne Faithfull, Franz Ferdinand, Jarvis Cocker, Cat Power, Carla Bruni and Beth Gibbons.

The Tamarind will miss: Louise Bourgeois

The Tamarind — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:22:52 +0000

We will miss her grace, here we will miss her irony, buy we will miss the sensuality of her work. Louise Bourgeois died in New York City at the age of 98 on May 31st. Often referred to as a matriarch in the art world, she was a pivotal figure in the contemporary scene, for the iconic feminine imagery and the extent of her influence. She owes the nickname Spiderwoman to her very eminent work Mamam, the imposing yet light sculpture representing a spider, meant as an ode to her own mother and now instantly associated with Bourgeois after having appeared in the most prestigious locations over the years since it was commissioned by the Tate Modern in 2000. A sort of irreverent grandmother – a famous portrait by Robert Mapplethorpe comes to mind – she has explored the themes of subconscious, memory, motherhood, sex. As Richard Wentworth has said: “I think she’s really necessary. Assessing her is like asking what a mountain does: it’s simply there.”

The Tamarind loves: fresh asparagus

The Tamarind — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:03:58 +0000

We at The Tamarind have previously written about Pedlars (refresh your memory here), illness the enterprise created by Charlie and Caroline Gladstone, search a colourful co-existence of vintage pieces, beautiful prints, kitchen utensils, Hunter boots and any possible item carrying the logo ‘Keep calm and carry on’. They have recently curated the photography exhibition at Gallery 5 in Notting Hill showing the work of Emmanuel Berry. But this is phenomenal! Among Pedlar’s assets is an organic farm in Wales and you can now order freshly-cut asparagus and have them delivered to your door in 24 hours. In their own words: “Unless you grow your own asparagus it is hard to get a fresher version of this vegetable-to-end-all-vegetables”

There is a limited quantity available every day but you can try and place an order here.

The Tamarind loves: Artwords

The Tamarind — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:29:08 +0000

Among the London bookshops specialised in art publications (Koenig Books at the Serpentine Gallery, buy cialis Shipley, buy cialis the quirky Magma) Artwords is most definitely worth a visit, especially if you are wondering across East London on a lazy afternoon. With two locations, one in Shoreditch (Rivington Street) and one in Hackney (the buzzing Broadway Market), it focuses on contemporary visuals arts. Architecture, fashion, painting, photography, graphic design. Major publications are mixed with the latest efforts of small publishers from Europe, the US or Australia. Book launches and other events are organised and you can be kept up-to-date by subscribing to Artwords’ newsletter via their website. Then chill in one of the bars of Charlotte Road or Broadway Market, skimming through the pages of your newly purchased book…

Artwords
www.artwords.co.uk
20-22 Broadway Market E8 4QJ London
65a Rivington Street EC2A 3QQ London

The Tamarind read: “It’s our turn to eat”

The Tamarind — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:44:57 +0000

British journalist and author, hospital Michela Wrong has had many years experience working as a correspondent for the BBC and the Financial Times in Africa. “Its our turn to eat: the story of a Kenyan whistleblower” Is the third book she has published on the continent. In it she traces the journey made by John Githongo, rx a Kenyan who decides to turn on his fellow tribesmen, ambulance the ruling Kikuyu elite, and make public one of the biggest money scams the country has been subjected to since it acquired Independence in 1963. The book reads as a scathing resume’ of the endemic corruption that is present at all levels of Kenyan politics and shows what little was done by Britain, the US and the World Bank, to actually put into practice their anti-corruption discourse. What mattered, for these Western actors, was disbursing loans in the name of eradicating poverty rather than taking a critical stance on what is unarguably the biggest impediment to development across the world today. A five star read. Important for anyone interested in Africa, Kenya, the pitfalls humanitarian aid and the implications of late twentieth century global politics. Michela Wrong. Original Trade Paperback, 2009: “IT’S OUR TURN TO EAT. The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower”

The Tamarind loves: The Espresso Room

The Tamarind — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:28:42 +0000

Voted the best cup of coffee in London by TimeOut and reviewed by the likes of the New York Times, pharmacy The Espresso Room is a little gem in the heart of Bloomsbury. A tiny room fitting the essentials (the coffee machine and a couple of benches), cure it offers delicious lattes and a range of roasts. Alongside the praised coffees, home-made sandwiches are freshly prepared with good quality bread and ingredients (chicken and artichokes is delicious) and, of course, you can accompany your cappuccino with a croissant or a chocolate brownie. A cup of coffee here feels like a treat. The Espresso Room, 31-35 Great Ormond Street, London, www.theespressoroom.com

The Tamarind saw: Alice in Wonderland

The Tamarind — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:38:06 +0000

Although visually Tim Burton’s latest cinematographic extravaganza was all it was made out to be, and story-wise, thumb our favourite adventurous director cannot be said to have taken any risks. The film is very predictable and the characters offer no surprises. Burton’s sequel that takes place thirteen years after Alice gets back form Wonderland, check is far less twisted than Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass and the characters lack any real improvement on the originals. All in all it was an enjoyable experience but rather more children-friendly than was to be expected. Whatever happened to the dark and macabre Burton we have grown to love over the years? In addition to this, Johnny Depp plays what has now become a standard character for him: whether it is Edward Scissorhands, Willy Wonka or Jack Sparrow, it feels that the actor has found a comfort zone that he is unable or unwilling to break free from.