Landa Ruweha


On Saturday I went with my mate Dan to the gallery on 7th November St.

There was an exhibition by Landa Ruweha, called Letter by Letter with the theme of Arabic letters, in paper and pastels on glass. I really liked them, and chatted to the artist about the framing and the lighting. What appealed to me was the three-d nature of some of the pieces, and the way shadows would fall behind them, moving with the day if they were in the sun - it would make them into a small installation if properly placed.

Dan wasn't so impressed, and felt that Landa's remarks about people who gave them a cursory glance was intended for him. She also told me that Libyans had been puzzled, seeing Arabic calligraphy as something that should be treated traditionally.

I wish I'd had a bit of surplus cash, and I would have got one. But English teachers with a small child and photography habits can rarely splash out spontaneously on original works of art, regrettably. Still, it was nice to talk.

The exhibition is on until 30th April, then it's moving on to Syria. Good luck to her.

As for the photo. I'd like to say, taking a photo of an artist, I went for an artistic affect. The truth is, I'd forgotten that I'd earlier decided to avoid the autofocus, set the lens to "manual", and wasn't paying attention when I took the photo. So there's a salutary lesson: learn to use my specs together with the viewfinder if I want to break away from digital technology for a while.

Though, actually, it's an accidentally rather interesting portrait, eh?

Comments

  1. AnonymousSat May 03, 10:01:00 pm BST

    hi there,
    it's Landa. I 've just stumbled across your blog regarding my exhibition and i'm flattered by your review.
    The piece you liked is yours if you are still interested -as a present from me , please call Art House at 3604477 so that we can arrange for you to pick it up. I'm leaving on 16th so I hope that i can give it you before!
    Regards to Dan.
    All the best
    Landa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Garry NixonFri May 09, 10:14:00 am BST

    Thanks Landa. That's really incredibly kind of you. I'll be back in Tripoli, inshallah, on 11th May. I'll get in touch with the gallery, and post a photo here of the picture in situ.

    ReplyDelete

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