Just another lazy Sunday (19 July 2009)

Albert Nyathi is here - he is a highly acclaimed performance poet and musician from Harare - we worked with him when we were there recently and he has now come to the UK to perform. He is former Director of the Zimbabwe Arts Council and one of Culture Fund's group of artist assessors for their funding programme for new creative businesses. He is a huge personality whose creativity, seriousness of purpose and great sense of fun all burst through simultaneously - a natural leader and hugely popular in Zimbabwe - when we went out with him one evening, we kept being stopped by people coming up to him in real delight at the chance of meeting him. He's coming up to CIDA on Friday as he is keen to discuss the potential for setting up a version of CIDA in Harare - (be still, my beating heart!) - watch this space! And spent yesterday working with Adalet Garmiany, an Iraqi artist introduced to me by Lee C - he's actually from Kurdistan, his father was one of the leaders there, and he is trying to set up an amazing art event in Iraq in November called Post War Art and Cultural Festival - (could perhaps do with re-titling!) - potentially taking the artist Richard Wilson out to do an extraordinary installation (involving the use of oil, real oil!), as well as four other UK artists to work with 10 Iraqi artists, and involving local children, schools etc. Adalet is passionate, intense, utterly committed, well connected and very bright - he's secured a lot of support but needs more money - £150,000 would do the trick if anyone knows anyone! - we spent the day doing budgets - (I get all the good gigs!) - starting at 1030 but we'd (I'd!) had enough by 5pm and so we called it a day but we need to do another day still to get the company finance sorted - The passion and commitment that are characteristic of both Adalet and Albert just bring home to me a couple of thoughts - firstly, confirmation of my experience that artists all over the world are united by a common set of values stronger than anything that you normally see within individual nations; and secondly, how important the arts are in sustaining hope, inspiring the imagination and sustaining the 'spiritual' life of people even in the most appalling of life's circumstances - it's genuinely humbling to work with people like this -