Saturday Howff, from Kyrgyzstan to Granton
howff /haʊf/. A favourite meeting place or haunt, especially a pub.
Welcome to The Howff, Bella’s lounge for the lockdown. This is the lounge bar for the many musicians and artists who have lost all of their live gigs and exhibitions but get to share with you – and you get to support them.
First up we have our very favourite Howff extract so far is the extraordinary skill and fluidity of Cholpon Melisbekova from Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬 playing the Komuz to her kids … check it out .. (!)
And second our first EVER online virtual exhibition from the very talented Mr Colin Heggie with images from his exhibitions Alien Shores, Cloud Circles and Wids – a selection of truly astonishing photography.
Enter the exhibition and start the virtual tour here (best on Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox) or go here to view it.
The work is in support of the #artistsupportpledge
“The concept is a simple one. Artists post images of their work, on Instagram which they are willing to sell for no more than £200 each (not including shipping). Anyone can buy the work. Every time an artist reaches £1000 of sales, they pledge to spend £200 on another artist/s work.”
Next up we have Aproxima Tatties…
Artists Angus Farquhar and Rudy Kanhye have joined together to make an inventive food growing initiative that has managed to survive the lockdown and find an inspiring way to allow people to work together collectively in isolation.‘An Empty Gunny Bag Cannot Stand ‘ was originally intended to take place in the shark’s fin of unused land surrounding the SWG3 arts complex, which was in the first stages of being transformed into a new public garden.
A stunning range of brightly coloured hessian bags designed by bespoke bag maker Trakke, were to be filled with potatoes and looked after by a team of local growers, tending to them for four months, before coming together for a summer event. With the current restrictions on gathering, we wanted to think about how we could still make, share and grow things…
In Kelvindale, the area where Angus Farquhar lives, a new plan evolved by inviting the whole street to plant and grow the potatoes on their own doorsteps. A team of costume makers and young seamstresses living in the neighbourhood, have made 120 beautiful bags – olive green, brilliant red, and mustard yellow – drawing on Rudy Kanhye’s Mauritian roots. 25 bags have also been distributed to growers in Kelvinhaugh, living locally to SWG3.
After the potatoes are grown and when this strange limbo ends and we can gather again; we’ll throw a wild harvest party in the SWG3 garden-to-be with lights, music, and our bespoke mobile Chip Shop and feed Glasgow for free for a day!
‘An Empty Gunny Bag Cannot Stand’ is presented by SWG3 and Aproxima Arts and has been generously funded by the Mushroom Trust, the Stafford Trust, The Hugh Fraser Foundation, Sustrans and the William Grant Foundation.
‘An Empty Gunny Bag Cannot Stand’ from Aproxima Arts on Vimeo.
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Finally … we have Episode 17 of our radio for the lockdown for you …
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