140808 London National Gallery

London’s National Gallery is always good to visit. You can do it within one hour if that’s your fancy or that’s so much that you can soak yourself with or if you have plenty of time with you and looking for activities to fill the gap, it’s really a must go. I discover the joy of the gallery when I first went to London 3 years ago. Scouting for places to go and making sure that I “at least” step in the gallery. Overlooking Trafalgar Sq, it’s extremely easy to find and it’s a good place to take cover during the surprise shower London is famous for.

This time around, there’s a special segment done on LOVE. Yeah, the gallery explored the topics and love is the theme. A video presentation conducted on the portrayal of love in the drawings and notably a project by Yoko Ono called Secret Piece III, 2007. It’s actually a collaboration of the masses where visitors wrote on a stick-on note and paste on the canvass before being shipped to America for her to complete the piece. She actually asked for photos to be stuck together too but few follow the instruction. So, imagine looking at a giant drop-me-a-message notice board filled with love messages or just imagine reading the vandalized carvings on certain trees in the public park you get what it is all about.

I dedicate this pic I took to liangmoi since his idol lost in his Olympic single bid; apparently someone supported their idol till National Gallery

And art appreciation is being done in its best here as I saw. On the day of my visit there was a workshop for children and also one together with their parents. 2 falicitators took turn to talk to the children and asked them questions on one of the paintings. The painting referred is one with kids as well (you gotta engage the audience with similarities right?), music box, food, a bird in the cage and also a cat. You will be surprised to see how kids “interpret” the paintings and it’s surely an eye-opener to what kids pay attention to. The whole session is open and the kids were sitting in front of the painting and their answers induced laughter and amusement from the public and not to mention some awed feeling by the children’s innocence and creativity. The facilitators also treat the kids as adult in the way they ask questions such as “What do you think the cat wants?” instead of the superficially-cheerful-but-mindlessly-dumbing tone and cutesy facial expression that you always watch in the kids programme. I know children like things fun and active but it doesn’t mean that they can’t be serious right?

never-fail-to-make-a-statement note besides a photo and note expressing the love for the children

I wish our museums or galleries in Malaysia do the same thing to encourage more art appreciation. Being the typical Malaysian, I already had countless excuses or reason why it can’t be done. First of all, most of the administrators in government bodies/department in charge of museums and galleries are not artistic or at least “know” about art. Most (at the risk of generalizing or stereotyping but I’m referring to majority) of them are just graduates from unrelated course who can’t find job in the market place. How to educate the public on art if the educators themselves know nothing about it??? And also if the session is ever being conducted, it will be one way session with the facilitators become “lecturers” and no feedback from the audience. Haven’t we see enough of this?

Passing the day slowly with no specific plan in mind, how luxuriously stressless is that??? I just need to reach Stansted airport by midnight where I sleep for the night before catching a flight to Montpellier.