Friends of Love and War – L’Éloge des meilleur·es ennemi·es at IKON Gallery Birmingham.
Birmingham’s IKON Gallery teamed up with MacLYON and the British Council to bring an exhibition that considers friendship essential to society. But as participants in said society, we know things are not always simple. Curators Melanie Pocock (IKON) and Marilou Laneuville (MacLYON) hosted the tour of the exhibition, which aimed to rebuild the relationship between the UK and France in the post-Brexit climate as well as explore the history between the two nations which Melanie describes as having the relationship status of“frenemies”. But this exhibition had a whole host of cultures from across the world and explored other hemes surrounding the unique relationship, with twinned cities Birmingham and Lyon front and centre.
Disagreements and Debates
The UK Arts Industry has had a brutal time existing post-Brexit and especially since COVID, with travel limitations and budget cuts wreaking havoc and generations of creatives being told to ‘re-think and re-train’. France has also had its fair share of political and social unrest in recent times, which is what made this exhibition so inspiring to me. The project has been heavily collaborative, and the fact that it can open its doors here in Birmingham is a credit to all those involved. As we were led upstairs and into a dark room, we were greeted by a video work projected onto a large wall by UK visual artist Hetain Patel called ‘Don’t Look at the Finger’. Patel, who grew up inspired by superheroes, created a piece that seems to depict a couple battling their way through their differences through combat performance. Dressed in traditional African clothing and being witnessed by their respective families (the scene appears to be a wedding/union of sorts), the piece is thrilling yet comedic as the couple get the best of one another all while attempting to not focus on the other’s pointed finger. I found this piece very relatable, as a relationship between two lovers can have many unexpected twists and turns as both participants grow and learn through disagreements and debates.
All of this is interpreted through combat-based dance and is the perfect greeting to an exhibition dealing with the sometimes very difficult nature of relationships. The next video work is by Scotland’s Rachel Maclean called ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’, dealing with the touchy subject of Scotland’s referendum. It depicts a Lion (England) and a Unicorn (Scotland) exchanging ideas and arguments surrounding Scottish independence. From the perspective of a native Scot, this is again very comedic yet enlightening from the eyes of an Englishman. The costumes for the characters are hilariously crafted, with an almost psychedelic and frightening quality to them. I felt as if I had stepped into Wonderland! This deals with a difficult subject in such a lighthearted and childlike way, which will reach a space of reason in even the most stubborn of opposed minds.
Ripples in Time
Focusing now on two Birmingham-based artists, firstly Luke Routledge. ‘Strangelets’ is the name of the work, and strange it is! Now dealing with life beyond our planet and into outer space. With scientific possibilities almost endless, Strangelets deals with alien lifeforms existing in the context of a short story written by Luke. These creatures are almost human-like, except for their luminous and unorthodox bodies, Routledge certainly has redesigned what life could be like if outer space had its peculiar way, which scientifically speaking could happen! With supermassive black holes and ripples in time, science fiction and pop culture combined, this is one of the most eye-catching pieces yet. Is this the life we are destined to experience one day? All wildness aside, these creatures have jobs and tasks to fulfil during their working day, but all tools are dropped when the sounds of stringed instruments are heard, and the musical notes send these wild space creatures into a raving frenzy! ‘Erdingtonia’ by Tereza Buskova is next. A resident of Erdington, Buskova feels that Erdington is often overlooked when discussing Birmingham. She states that she is proud and inspired by the tight-knit community of Erdington and wants to display this along with her Eastern European heritage.
Not only this, but she took inspiration from an Anglo-Saxon practice of ‘clipping’, a street procession where the community would hold hands and make their way through the Town and to the church. She is surprised how little British people knew about this Anglo-Saxon practice and wwantsto inform people of its existence. I found this to be a great example of togetherness and multiculturalism, which has helped Birmingham become a front-runner in this philosophy. Get yourself down to IKON Gallery in Birmingham to catch this unique exhibition while it’s here. It is free entry, however, if you feel like supporting the cause a £5 donation would be highly appreciated.
