Issue 89 / June 2018

PREVIEWS
Lura
FESTIVAL
Africa Oyé
Sefton Park – 16/06-17/06
The ever-progressive AFRICA OYÉ is once again leading the way with a gender-balanced
line-up that includes a number of brilliant solo female artists this year. Cape Verde’s
LURA and Senegalese singer-songwriter MAREMA will join renowned Kora player SONA
JOBARTEH for the Sefton Park cultural summit. Jamaican reggae legends INNER CIRCLE,
Grammy-nominee ROCKY DAWUNI and popular Guinea-Bissau singer BINHAN have also been
announced.
Two local musicians, REMÉE and NELSON, will open the stage on consecutive days as part of
Oyé Introduces. Representing the vibrant local future RnB and hip hop scenes respectively, Remée
and Nelson are two artists who are sure to open the fesival days on a hugely positive note.
Since it began in 1992 as a series of gigs around the city, Africa Oyé has blossomed into one
of Liverpool’s most-loved festivals. With food stalls that take your taste buds on a mouth-watering
journey across the world and international artists that reveal the wonderfully diverse nature of
music from the African and Caribbean diaspora, it’s not hard to see why. The festival began as a
means of countering the negative perception of Africa in the media, and is now the largest free
celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture in the UK. Music is at the heart of Oyé and
showcasing both up-and-coming and established artists is integral to the festival’s ethos. Through
their Oyé Introduces initiative, the festival gives young, local musicians the chance to perform in
front of crowds reaching 50,000 people with the likes of XamVolo and NuTribe making the most of
the opportunity in previous years.
After the huge success of last year’s 25th anniversary celebrations, which saw record-breaking
crowds at the Aigburth account, the 2018 edition of the event looks to follow in the feel-good vibes.
With such an exciting programme of free music planned, Africa Oyé retains its reputation as
an inclusive festival for all. The knowledge that this is a sizeable festival, which could easily charge
a ticket price, creates a happy and grateful crowd. After 26 years, Oyé is undoubtedly a highlight
of Liverpool’s festival calendar. The anticipation of summer, international line-up and embrace of
multiculturalism makes this late-weekend in June near impossible to beat.
EXHIBITION
Life In Motion: Egon Schiele/
Francesca Woodman
Tate Liverpool – 24/05-23/09
Egon Schiele, Self Portrait in Crouching Position 1913
Radical Austrian expressionist EGON SCHIELE and American photographer FRANCESCA
WOODMAN may have worked at opposite ends of the 20th Century, but when their
nude portraits and self-portraits sit side-by-side they tell a similar story. Both artists
sought to create unapologetically intimate works that exposed the emotional, expressive
nature of the human body.
They also both capture moments in time, with physical movement and emotions in flux
represented with expressive brush lines and long exposure blurred images respectively. Pairing
Schiele and Woodman together, Tate Liverpool have not only demonstrated the former’s influence
over myriad artistic eras, but also presented themes that will remain relevant to any audience.
Life In Motion is a rare treat for art lovers as it brings more than 100 of Schiele’s drawings
and Woodman’s sensational photographs to Liverpool and, once again, displays the work of an
Austrian master in the North of England. Visitors will be reminded of the momentous exhibition 10
years ago of Gustav Klimt’s seminal portraits at the Albert Dock gallery for the Capital Of Culture
year. A decade on, this is a fitting way to mark Tate’s 30-year anniversary.
Coming out of the fertile art scene of Vienna in the early 20th Century, a period when
intellectual heavyweights such as Franz Schubert and Sigmund Freud frequented the cafés of the
Austrian capital, Schiele struggled to make a name for himself as his family shunned his artistic
ambitions. However, Klimt became an early champion of his work and was buoyed by the Vienna
Secession movement, a group of forward-thinking artists who broke with tradition to create new
and exciting styles.
With a similar focus on nudes and the human form, Woodman looked to artists of the Italian
renaissance as the Denver native spent many of her summers in Italy. The 60s and 70s was an
important period for photography as the discipline was getting greater regard as a form of artistic
expression. Woodman was prolific and produced over 800 works in her short career, which
tragically came to an end when the artist committed suicide in 1981.
Life In Motion provides a powerful insight into the lives and works of two exceptional artists
and makes for an intense viewing experience.
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