Babak Salari talk at Friction Arts- Last Saturday evening I arrived late The Edge, home to Friction Arts, who’d organised a talk from photographer Babak Salari. I immediately kicked myself for my tardiness as I walked in in the middle of a heated debate about politics and art, and the responsibilities of an artist as a documenter and interpreter of the situations around them.
Babak’s powerful photographs of Afghani people displaced by thirty years of war ignited a passionate, political discussion, a reaction to art which is quite rare these days:
…we’ve been in a long-lasting bubble of apolitical art, where it seems that artists egos and bank balances seem of more importance than commenting, reflecting and, hopefully, influencing the cultural and social landscape. A lot of the art I see these days is quite nice, and often well presented, but doesn’t really say a lot, often clever, rarely intelligent. I always feel that experiencing a genuine piece of art you come away from it changed in some way. Be honest, when did that last happen to you?
Thanks for posting Nicky – just wanted to say it wasn’t an event organised by Rhubarb – it was organised by Friction Arts and Si Walker – myself (Sandra Hall) and Si met Babak 2 months ago in Bulgaria at the ‘Goat Milk Festival’ where we did a series of interventions. – because Rhonda had Rhubarb approaching we made sure we advertised relevant Rhubarb events and invited Rhonda… given we had less than a week to organise and advertise, we were delighted that she could make it, join in and let artists in the audience know about up and coming Rhubarb events etc… . We’ll keep you posted as there will be more talks and regular activities at ‘The Edge’. It was a real honour to host Babak and a great debate ensued…. 25+ artists turned up and all got a chance to discuss together and with Babak throughout the evening. He had a great time and is truly intrigued by Birmingham…. thanks Sandra.
Apologies Sandra, my bad for not paying proper attention. Have corrected the post.