I want to explain why we are inviting absolutely every last one of you to The Green Door Gallery art event on Wednesday. It’s taken me ages to write this out. It’s meant I’ve had to say his name over and over again.
In January we launched a mental health awareness campaign at the Irish Embassy. The inimitable “Darkness Into Light” team also donated an incredible 48,000 Euros to partner organisations that provide therapy training and mental health helpline services here in Belgium.
And here is your invitation to the art event this Wednesday:
Ever since my friend took his life in 2007, I’d been looking for a charity that supported people. Supported them in the way I believed my friend and his family had not been supported: I wanted to donate to something that helped individuals and families dealing with mental health crises and bereavement.
From the day of his funeral until the day of this year’s Darkness Into Light launch, I avoided every photo of him. Without thinking, I believed I could control my grief if I avoided reflecting on him. It felt like too much. I’d also, tragically but in a different way, refrained from reaching out to mutual friends. As if the pain would be too great and the floodgates would open. Me! Avoid talking? With friends! Can you imagine?
Then, 17 years later, after the speech when I FINALLY opened up, a family approached me and spoke eloquently. They described how some of us stop ourselves from connecting, even talking, to friends and family, as a form of control. I thought of a diagnosis in psychology: “Selective Mutism.” And a term in popular culture: “Stonewalling.” They explained that some people have such big feelings, they get overwhelmed, and in order to gain a sense of control, some people cut others out.
They had been discussing their own mental health relationships, but it sparked my own long-dark lightbulb.
I’d been burying my own grief in isolation.
I’d avoided looking at old photos.
I didn’t even mention his name casually until last year.
Around this time last year, walking with a friend Sarah Ironside she mentioned she was painting these hearts when she goes for walks. Sarah explained these yellow hearts help people process grief and connect to a charity that supports individuals and families. I was so inspired. I painted a yellow heart in my friend’s memory as we discussed the complexities of grief.
In the post I had written:
If you, or anyone you know are working through suicidal ideation or grief after the loss of a loved one, you might want to check out the incredible support and free services of the Darkness Into Light organisation: www.darknessintolight.ie
You see better than I could; I wrote his name in rain-proof paint, but I still couldn’t bring myself to say it regularly, even write it in my post online!
Sarah had written:
Here is the transcript of her whole post from May 2023:
I walked with my beautiful friend Tamar Levi. She is an artist and she painted her friend Dominic ‘s name with love, sadness and hope.
She told me how Dominic liked to do theatre where there was no theatre. He brought theatre audiences on boats, he was like a theatre doctor who made plays better.
But at 42 he took his own life to the immense grief and sadness of all who loved him.
HOPE – that is the word for me which defines my walks. I walk with the hope that someone will reach out and get help. I walk with the hope that together we can play a part in reducing the stigma that surrounds mental health problems.
Tomorrow I will write these words in lights in the park.
Hope. Dochas. Hoop. Espoir.
I look forward to waking my 60th walk together with people all over the world and sharing the same sunrise.
Thanks to your generosity my personal fundraiser is now at almost 7000 euros – but every euro counts and donations still welcome.
These were turned=away-from physical blindspots.. The memories of where he lived and where the funeral was held were too overwhelming.
I had so many blind spots. Sarah Ironside mentioned his name in her post. At that time, I’d been holding my grief too close to my chest. Believing it too personal, even for my personal friends to read on my personal wall.
There are also odd circles British society draws around who gets to grieve to the depth they feel they need: I wasn’t his girlfriend or mother, why should I be as shaken to my core as I’d felt?
Up until Sarah and I walked in 2023, I’d rarely mentioned him. Of course, he was referred to and grieved openly at the time of his tragic death and during the time of his funeral in 2007. Back then, I had to say his name to apply for time off work to attend the funeral. I requested bereavement therapy from my work. I’m sure his name was mentioned in those three corporate-office therapy sessions. It wasn’t until SEVENTEEN YEARS later, in 2024, this family, deep at the heart of an event close to my heart, surrounded by their community and friends, speaking of another grief entirely, external to my own self, only THEY helped me reach this private, hidden, personal epiphany: I had been stonewalling my own community around my own grief. My way of controlling my feelings had been to avoid discussion with mutual friends and certainly, to avoid any photos.
That evening, I went home and looked him up. His face flooded the internet. Newspapers, tributes, memorials, projects he’d done for Cornish community, the heritage community that grew from his theatre projects, a whole new theatre atelier built in his honour, credits for films I’d never heard he’d acted, productions I’d no idea he’d founded or scripts he’d fixed… articles and articles and articles… and even an entire photo album dedicated to a life of sensitive beauty.
I was stunned.
Of course I was not the only person mourning Dominic Knutton.
The manager of the Dutch language helplines here in Belgium had spoken only this evening of statistics. It was reported, on average, 130 people are affected by every individual life lost.
Dominic Knutton and author Paulo Coelho after a London showing of Dom’s adaptation & the UKs premier “THE ALCHEMIST”
I smiled at photos of his successes and laughed at photos of him playing instruments I didn’t know he’d even (tried to?) play.
I saw evidence of his naughty-academic playfulness in a Bacchanalia he’d done at the iconic Eden Project, his historical recovery of Ordinalia (three medieval mystery plays dating to the late fourteenth century,
written primarily in Middle Cornish),
even what a cheeky chappie he’d been as a child.
That evening I’d finally reached out and felt the parallel rays of all 130 people+ remembering my friend, our friend, with similar loving sadness, and suddenly I felt the isolate release after seventeen whole years.
Weeping, I emailed Dom’s friend and theatre producer, Jason Squibb:
Hello Jason, you might remember me, if not, that’s ok. Dominic Knutton and I were close. I’ve been a “Cornishwoman abroad” since then and I don’t think you and I have met in person since Dom’s funeral. At that time I felt a lot of guilt for not having been able to support him… [more effectively, through his darkest end thoughts]. I also really struggled with the bereavement (as we all did). At the time I felt I wasn’t able to help him, and the frustration there was not any mental health support that I knew of, was angry-making. At his funeral I thought about how much I wished there had been a free and qualified professional who could have talked with him in a way that might have led him away from self harm. So for years I was looking for a charity to donate to in order to make sure there could be support for people struggling like Dom had been at that time. Since moving to Brussels I witnessed a lot of people raising awareness for suicide and bereavement and mental health. I reached out to one of the organisers of the most transparently effective support groups and asked if I could donate and organise an event for donations to the 24/7 free therapy hotlines they run in 3 languages here. It’s taken us 4 years to get this event underway and yesterday, (with the benefaction of the European President no less!),
Roberta Metsola, the current President of the European Parliament shares her vision for greater mental health awareness in member states.
we finally launched the campaign. My artwork, inspired by Dominic’s illness is on auction and all donations go to the professionals on the phones helping thousands every year work through both the pain and processing that both Dom and we had to do without their kind of support.
All professional art photography done by Ahu Yigit at Atelier 34
Anyway, whether you remember me or not, it doesn’t matter. We both had big love for the same guy. I did this thing in honour of him and I wanted to share with you because, well, you’d get it. I hope hope hope other friends and families and colleagues and classmates and acquaintances don’t lose anyone even partially as important as Dominic was to us. I hope my illustrations help young people, especially, see that they are seen and these telephone lines help them feel listened to and these professionals support them away from the darkness that swallowed up our friend. I send you the warmest regards from Belgium and a big Knut kind of hug from, Just Another Person Who Loved Him
Jason responded!
Hi Tamar, yes of course I remember you! Wow, this is amazing. Great that Dom is not only remembered but continuing to influence others who meant a lot to him. I know Dom’s death affected so many people in different ways. But fantastic that you have worked so hard to provide support for those in crisis. Belgium is lucky to have you! Sending you warmest regards from Cornwall, much love xxx
We talked a little bit more online and Jason explained that Dom’s visionary founding of the Cornish Theatre Collective continues to thrive.
…I’m running the company now and since working on the Ordinalia in 2021, I’ve been trying to get funding for a play. The Knut is hugely successful in St Just, a wonderful community space...
Now the Artistic Director, Jason’s often juggling playwright, shipwright AND navigator. Fantastic current projects deliver large-scale outdoor epic theatrical experiences alongside touring theatre. Solid in the same values as Dom’s first Ordinalia, the Collective continues to function as a catalyst for communities to explore their own artistic endeavours. For those of you looking to support awareness and appreciation of Cornish cultural heritage, or interested in celebrating and interpreting our past: the collective works with freelance performers and practitioners and are developing the next exciting thing. Get in touch with them here.
…The Knut is hugely successful in St Just, a wonderful community space...
When Jason spoke of The Knut he helped me settle deep into the understanding that our friend Dominic Knutton’s memory is very much alive and still passionately active in the theatre world.
Art events coordinator Mary Ann Bloomfield managed to raise enough money to build a theatrical facility for the St Just community. It was that community that first worked together with Dom to revive the uniquely Cornish medieval Ordinalia plays.
I wrote:
… It’s just amazing how much community orbits his memory. Thank you again for all your hard work over there and all your kind words here. If, for whatever reason, you find yourself passing through Belgium, ping me a message. I’ll buy you a Belgian beer and a Belgian waffle with some Belgian chocolates so you can go back well welcomed
The warmth in our brief exchange was incredible. I hadn’t spoken with any mutual friends in 17 long years. I wasn’t even in the same VPN country, wherein I might’ve glimpsed award-winning shows, seen Jason Squibb acting in there: proximity might’ve inspired a more casual reflex to pick up the flippin’ phone!
The geographical distance was not the true divide.
Why do we do this do ourselves? Why do we look to isolate our feelings, to control what makes us human, why do we try to lock our little hearts in little boxes? Why do we sometimes hide when the truth is: community is one of the main healthy ingredients back to mental health.
Talking with friends or finding a community who are willing to discuss the trauma or tragedy or grief in your life is one of the biggest healing tools we can tap into.
I made the mistake of taking my own dang time finding my snail pace back to the place where I can heal more healthily amongst friends.
Please don’t isolate yourself.
If you have been through anything at all, there are others around you ready to listen, walk with you, remember with you, well up with tears and talk too.
In fact, aside from my friend and my art and my delayed epiphanies, the charity that I chose to support in my friend’s name, they are meeting for a community walk on May 11th. I’m just realising now, similar to Dom’s Cornish Theatre Collective, they too work to make a space for community. They hope that people who join the walk will find a space for their grief, an outlet for bereavement and a catharsis that can only come from shared memories and open hearts. You can join in sadness or in solidarity.
Hope to see you there. Learn your name. Learn the name of the person you might have lost. And learn how to say my friend’s name again and again and again too.
-T-
Thank you to those coming to the Irish Embassy. We can’t wait to launch the 2024 #darknessintolight – Belgium campaign to raise awareness for mental health. I’m sorry the registration tickets sold out so fast. For those who can’t make it, my art is finally back in the orbit of the truly special @green_door_gallery. The website features 19 of my original pieces that exchange animal and human features to illustrate how it feels when we are bullied or harassed. I hope people who engage with this event understand: *You are not alone. There are people ready to help, ready to listen.*
Beautifully framed and ready to come home, all artwork proceeds go straight to partner charities providing free and urgent telephone access to therapy for people and families dealing with mental health struggles or bereavement. I donate these artworks in memory of those who could not get support when most needed and with hope people will learn they are not alone: there are support services accessible to you. [1813 – 24/7 line in Flemish/Dutch, +3280032123 in French. The Community Help Service also has a 24/7 Helpline in English: 026484014] Take a look at the artworks. Share them with those who resonate. See you Tuesday.
16+ paintings of Brussels and it’s incredible parks.
I love this city.
For those who missed it when first edited (beautifully by Anja Strelec) and for those who might enjoy it in English, Nederlands & Francais; here’s my interview with @BRUZZbe online. It will be on Belgian TV at 6pm. Thank you for all your love and friendship, it’s been lots of fun sharing art with you. Cool to see the interview from before the show go out on people’s home screens just before all the paintings go to their new homes.
Working here on #TEDx with an awesome bunch of people just like me: positive-thinking perfectionists, and it feels like a family. Due to the pandemic, the whole thing has changed locations a handful of times, tickets have been restricted/ returned, and every 3 seconds we wonder if it will even happen. Weirdly, all the uncertainty has an upside: I don’t feel so stressed! I feel just as invested in the quality of my work as I always do, but less invested in whether the event happens exactly the way expected or not. Is there a word for “I have no hope, I have no fear, I am free”?
“This is way more than I ever expected. I’m speechless.”
TEDx & arts event manager extraordinaire Dimitra Pappa witnesses my continuous line portraits for the first time.
My exhibition MISSFITS will be on show at the TEDxULB event on October 22nd 2020, Brussels, Belgium
promo code TEDXULB2020 on tickets Maison Du Bois, Vrijwilligerslaan 2, 1040 Etterbeek on OCT 22nd.
Viktoryia Sinkovec asked if I would be her first ever guest on a new podcast about the arts here in Europe. We had an actual tea party and a good quality talk about my upcoming live art performance of DELPHI for TEDx. I did some portraits of her while we laughed.
T: It’s art, and it’s tea, and it’s an arty party. And this is October 2020. This is our first episode today. I would like to introduce Viktoryia Sinkovec. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
V: Thank you.
T: Viktoryia is a Belarussian in Belgium, a multinational mother, lawyer, yogini, journalist, and art lover. Or, just lover?
V: A lover. Always a lover.
T: A lover not a fighter.
V: Tamar Levi, she is an artist, a painter, a children’s book author, based in Brussels, and learning French.
T: That’s right! Trying.
V: Trying. She grew up in Alaska, educated in UK, and she accidentally fell in love with a Greek man who brought her to Europe.
T: The hairiest Greek man I could find!
V: (laughter)
T: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited that we were able to find the day we could do this, in advance of this big event next week.
V: Yeah, what is this big event that you’re talking about?
T: So, I was invited to do a performance for a TEDx conference which means it is organized by ULB, a university here in Brussels.
V: Yeah.
T: And, they will be having the normal TEDtalk speakers, but they invited me to do something a bit different: which is a live art performance.
V: How are people chosen for this event? Are they really special? What makes you so special?
T: I’ve been questioning this myself. What am I doing here? And why? I was trying yesterday to come up with a percentage for this. (Tea cups clattering.) Is it 70% who you know and 30% how good your work is?
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: Or is it 70% how good your work is and 30% who you know? I don’t know what the percentage is on this, but I think a lot of it is about who is in your community.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: And how you engage with your community over time and if you’re bringing quality work to your community space regularly you get known for doing a good job.
V: Yeah.
T: But you also have to be extroverted enough that people know they can reach out to you, find you, and introduce you to do things. So there is a weird mix of being a quality creator, but also stepping outside of your studio enough that you can create the relationships that move you into spaces that can share your work. It’s very, very tricky to take the hat off of the isolated artist, and put the hat on of “I’m going out into the world again.”
V: Especially now, in the Covid times.
T: Yes, oh my goodness.
V: There are a lot of restrictions now. So how will it look like?
T: It was originally going to be in a conference space, at Flagey, in the centre of Brussels. And then, so many people were interested, that they were expanding the event, and moving my artwork which was going to be on the walls and entering into a new space which was the Museum of Belgium.
V: Oh wow.
T: So it was going to be in a huge museum, which is very prestigious, and I was very excited to present my art on the walls of a museum! However, Covid hit and this pandemic happened, and they had to limit the ticket numbers. So they were no longer able to present it in the museum space.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: and now they are doing it in what I think what used to be a Belgian beer factory, maybe? Or some sort of old manufacturing building, that’s called La Maison du Bois.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: It’s near the university. It’s still a huge space, but it has fewer (guest) numbers and they are more spread out. And that’s how they’ve accommodated the pandemic.
V: It sounds quite interesting. If it’s an old place, it’s authentic, for an artist lover.
T: I was expecting it to be a chateau because it’s called La Maison… and I entered and I thought, oh! This looks like a factory that has rebranded as a chateau!
V: (laughing) And who will perform? You and someone else? Or is it just you?
T: I will be presenting a series of artwork on the wall of the event. AND I will be performing for the audience with a flautist–
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: — who is an award winning flute player named Kalliopi Bolovinou and it’s our first time collaborating together. So we had less than 10 days… My previous collaborator is based in London. His name is Doctor Eugene Feygelson, and he played the violin in our last performance. But, being based in London, he couldn’t commute to Belgium, as easily as we used to. The world has gotten smaller.
V: Yeah. Doors are closing.
T: Yeah. So, people we are engaging with, need to be our neighbours.
V: So, what’s going to be your story? What will you tell us?
T: This is the trailer for a graphic novel, that I’ve illustrated all in one line. The name of the book is DELPHI. It’s about a little girl whose mother passes away and she goes to look for her myths and legends in every culture around the world. This book almost wrote itself because every culture has a story about looking for someone you love who is not here. And, it was very easy going into the British library and finding folklore after folklore that told the same story about missing someone you love and going to look for them and trying to bring them back. However, I wrote this story along the arch of traditional grief. She goes through anger and denial, and eventually through a catharsis.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: The book is similar to all the books I’ve illustrated or coauthored in the past, they have an educational tool at the heart of them. This book is what’s called “thanatalogical,” it’s about the concept of death. It’s to be used when a child is going through an understanding of what is death.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: Perhaps a family reading it together can get to the catharsis point of grief, and bereavement and understand how to, as a family, move forward, with a positive perspective.
V: So, this will be the message on the wall? You’ll send it to us people?
T: The October 22nd event of the TEDx conference is the trailer for the larger graphic novel.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: I was asked by the gallery that I just had my last exhibition in, to do another performance in September. I was trying to think if I would do something different, and I decided, no, I must complete this book and bring the next chapter forward.
V: It’s very deep. Especially for kids who are not educated enough about the topic. Like that.
T: Right. I feel that Victorians talked a lot about death, and very little about love. And we (modern people) talk a lot about love, but not a lot about death. So, when death does come up as a topic, parents tend to go blank and not know how to process it in discussion with a child.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: As a children’s book author, I use my home library a lot to explain things to my kid. If she needs to work through anger, I’ll pick up a book about cooling down, breathing and calming down through anger. Or if we are going to the dentist, I’ll pick up a book and we’ll read a book about going to the dentist. Figuring that out together. Or the day before school starts, we’ll read a book about going to school and what is school all about. I feel like, to me, it is an amazing tool to have a book that you, as a parent, do not have to come up with the best words right on the spot. But having someone who has spent nearly 15 years working on this project–
V: Yeah, it’s a lot.
T: — it means that I can gift it to parents and know that I’ve saved them that task.
V: Do you think that the project you’re going to paint on the wall will be useful for kids? So, kids could come and join and see your performance?
T: This is the introduction. I had done, let’s say the practice version of it previously, with my collaborator the violinist.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: Children were present in that audience.
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: I feel that perhaps 5 years old and above, could sit through 10 minutes.
V: Yeah.
T: Depending on the child, maybe younger, but that would be up to the parents who are experts of their own child to know whether they can sit through.
V: Yeah, it’s true. What do you want to give through your message?
T: I feel that illustrating big ideas has been the practice that I have brought forward through my career as a children’s book illustrator, always working with big, big ideas that are complicated and need some visuals. The thing that I want to bring through this message in the performance next week, is the continuous line method, with live music–
V: Mmm hmmm.
T: — can be very exciting. Very interesting. A lot of people have never seen anything like this before. I hope people will be excited to see live art happening, and engaging with classical music, improvised for a performance. Going on the theme of the classical music, I would love for children to be more engaged with classical music.
V: That’s true, yeah.
T: If I mix it all together!
V: If I might ask, do you think you will go into a meditative state, while you are performing?
T: I would like to think that I would! Because I need to blank out all of the faces that are looking at me and I also need to stop the critical thinking side of my brain and allow myself to fluidly go into my art, on the creative side, of my thinking. I would love to ask you as a professional who shares breathing techniques, if there’s anything you could share with me, as advice. Do some art therapy for the artist!
V: Yes, I understand. I think what would help you on the spot is bring your awareness to your breathing. That’s how it helps to switch off the mind. You start drawing. But you bring all your attention to your breathing. You inhale. And you exhale. And you can repeat inside yourself, inhale, and exhale.
T: (deep breathing)
Then you can also use the thumb of your right hand, and do the alternate nostril breathing? You know the technique? It’s like a U-turn breathing, where you inhale and close the right nostril, with the thumb and you inhale with the left nostril. Then you close the left nostril, with the index finger and exhale through the right nostril…
T: (deep breathing)
V: …and inhale through the right nostril, and exhale through the left nostril. And you keep going. Just before your show, you will feel the difference, just before you arrive, rushing with all your tools, then you take 10 mihnutes before theshow, then you start breathing, then. You breath out, and all the tension will go away, you will feel different, your nervous system will calm down, you will cool down.
T: Mmm hmmm.
V: Or if you need to do something on the stage, you can also just close the left nostril, and breath from the right nostril…
T: (deep breathing)
V: …and this will bring all your concentration back.
T: To the nostrils.
V: You will no longer feel distracted by any noise, it is going to be just you, and your board, and your love, and—what will you use to draw?
T: Well, this is the dilemma, if there are more than 250 people, I would need to be drawing bigger.
V: Yes.
T: I’ll have to be using a darker, bigger ink. I’m not sure if I can enlarge my images, because it takes a big physical movement to enlarge it very big. I’m hoping to do a test run, on Saturday morning with the paper and the boards that will be part of the performance next week and see how big I can do it. One of the things I worry about, as an artist, is if I enlarge it too much, if it will lose some of the detail that gives it the quality that I like. It’s going to be a work in progress, actually, a work of progress in public, on stage!
V: I’m sure everyone will love it. Because it’s new. I haven’t seen anything like that in TED. Maybe I’m wrong, because I follow TEDtalks, but to me, every talk is special. So, the message that you want to send to all of us, is going to be special. It is special, it’s different, it’s coming from your heart, you want to share, you want to bring this message to every person sitting in the room and outside in the world.
T: Thank you so much and thank you for the breathing techniques that will help me get through the stage fright. Thank you for your time today.
V: Thank you so much for coming! Let’s have a little bit more tea!
T: Yes!
V: Cheers! Enjoy the afternoon, we wish you a pleasant day. Our company, we’re the Art Tea Party, with Tamar and Viktoryia.
Together: Goodbye!
Just finished uploading many of my paintings to the print place.
I hope you enjoy these!
I’ve made postcards, prints, even masks…
They are all based on the paintings from my collection Immensities that is coming to end of a sold out solo show in central Brussels, Belgium.
(Το κραγιόν και οι μάσκες δεν πάνε μαζί) της Tamar Levi*
Ποτέ δεν είχα ζωγραφίσει μια ολόκληρη συλλογή στη διάρκεια μιας καραντίνας. Πολλοί περισσότεροι λάτρεις της τέχνης έκαναν την εμφάνισή τους στην έκθεση μου “IMMENSITIES” απ’ όσους περίμενα. Ήρθαν με χαμόγελα πίσω από μάσκες, προσδοκώντας για ανθρώπινη επαφή, άλλοι μοναχικοί, μερικά ζευγάρια και κάποιες μικρές οικογένειες, όλοι έφτασαν αργά αλλά με σιγουριά στη γκαλερί Art Base εδώ στις Βρυξέλλες, στο Βέλγιο. Ήταν τιμή μου να καλωσορίσω επισκέπτες στην πρώτη τους έξοδο από το σπίτι τους, από την αρχή της παγκόσμιας πανδημίας COVID19. Η πανδημία άλλαξε το κοινό μου. Παρατήρησα ότι οι πιο προσεκτικοί από αυτούς αγοράζουν έργα τέχνης από το διαδίκτυο και η πλειονότητα αυτών που ήρθαν οι ίδιοι ήταν ένα νέο κοινό, ενώ πολλά ήταν τα άτομα που γνώρισα για πρώτη φορά εκεί. Ήταν εκπληκτικό που συναντήθηκα με τόσα νέα πρόσωπα μετά από μήνες αλληλεπίδρασης μας μόνο σε μια μικρή φούσκα.
Ακολουθούν οι προτάσεις μου για το πως διοργανώνεται μια έκθεση ζωγραφικής κατά τη διάρκεια μιας πανδημίας.
Βήμα 1ο. Βεβαιωθείτε ότι οι ημερομηνίες σας είναι σύμφωνες με τους περιορισμούς. Ελέγξτε ότι τόσο εσείς όσο και η γκαλερί αισθάνεστε άνετα με την ημερομηνία, αναβάλλετε την έκθεση εάν υπάρχει περιορισμός λόγω καραντίνας ή κόκκινης ζώνης που θα δυσκολέψει το κοινό σας ή που θα μπορούσε να σας κάνει ως οικοδεσπότες να αισθάνεστε άβολα. Ελέγξτε τις κυβερνητικές οδηγίες και βεβαιωθείτε ότι η πιθανή επιλογή πώλησης εισιτηρίων σας, έχει περιορισμούς που αντικατοπτρίζουν τις κυβερνητικές διατάξεις. Βήμα 2ο. Βεβαιωθείτε ότι το κοινό σας κατανοεί πλήρως το τι παίζει.
Κάθε φορά που υπήρχε μια μικρή πληροφορία σχετικά με την τοποθεσία, τις ημερομηνίες, την προετοιμασία, σχέδια εκδηλώσεων, φρόντισα να το επικοινωνήσω μέσω σχεδόν όλων των μέσων κοινωνικής δικτύωσης (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin). Αυτό ήταν εξαντλητικό, αλλά έπρεπε οι επισκέπτες της γκαλερί να λάβουν όλες τις απαντήσεις σε πιθανές ερωτήσεις τους. Ακόμα κι αν η κυβέρνηση λέει ότι μπορείτε να έχετε έως και 200 άτομα σε μια εκδήλωση, μπορεί να μην αισθάνεστε άνετα εσείς που γνωρίζετε το κοινό σας καλύτερα. Είναι πιθανό να αισθάνονται παρόμοια με εσάς, επειδή το δικό σας το κοινό προσελκύεται στο περιεχόμενό σας λόγω της σύνδεσης που αισθάνεστε μεταξύ σας ήδη.
Βήμα 3ο. Προετοιμάστε μια ασφαλή στρατηγική εισόδου και εξόδου.
Οι επισκέπτες της γκαλερί ήταν έτοιμοι για έξοδο στην πόλη, αλλά με ασφαλή τρόπο. Ήταν κουρασμένοι από το γεγονός ότι εδώ και μήνες δεν ζουν ουσιαστικά τη ζωή τους. Ο ιδιοκτήτης της γκαλερί επινόησε ένα αριθμημένο σύστημα περιστροφής εισιτηρίων όπου οι επισκέπτες έβλεπαν τους πίνακες σε δεξιόστροφη κατεύθυνση. Εάν ήταν περισσότερα από 20 άτομα στο χώρο, τους ζητούσε να δώσουν τον αριθμό τους στο επόμενο άτομο στην πόρτα. Το προγραμματίσαμε αυτό, ώστε αν υπήρχαν περισσότερα από 40 άτομα το βράδυ των εγκαινίων, να έκανα την ομιλία μου στον εξωτερικό χώρο, αντί να ενθαρρύνουμε όλους να βρίσκονται πολύ κοντά ο ένας με τον άλλο στο εσωτερικό.
Βήμα 4ο. Εκτιμήστε τους συνεργάτες σας. Δείξτε λίγη συμπόνια σε όλους τους άλλους ανθρώπους που σας βοηθούν ώστε αυτό το πράγμα να γίνει πραγματικότητα. Ο φωτογράφος σας έχει χάσει πολλές «δουλειές» κατά τη διάρκεια της απαγόρευσης κυκλοφορίας. Ο ιδιοκτήτης της γκαλερί έπρεπε να ακυρώσει πολλές εκδηλώσεις τους προηγούμενους μήνες και είχε αυξανόμενα χρέη. Χρειάζεται ενσυναίσθηση. Η πανδημία είναι μια στιγμή για να είστε φιλικοί, όχι ντίβες – ας είστε ευγενικές.
Βήμα 5ο. Μάσκα
Οι VIP επισκέπτες ρώτησαν. «Πρέπει να φορέσω μάσκα μπροστά από τις κάμερες;» Ανησυχούσα ότι το κραγιόν μου θα είχε τριφτεί γύρω από το στόμα μου κι ότι θα έμοιαζα με κλόουν. Πρέπει να φοράω μακιγιάζ κάτω από τη μάσκα μου; Πρέπει να βγάλω τη μάσκα μου όταν μου παίρνουν συνέντευξη; Οι κυβερνητικές οδηγίες για τη χρήση μάσκας άλλαξαν ενώ η έκθεση ακόμα «έτρεχε». Νομίζω ότι είναι ευγενικό να ζητάμε άδεια από τον εκάστοτε δημοσιογράφο, του τύπου, «σας πειράζει αν βγάλω τη μάσκα μου;».
Βήμα 6ο. Καθαριότητα Η διατήρηση ενός αποστειρωμένου σπιτιού είναι αδύνατη – ένας αποστειρωμένος δημόσιος χώρος είναι ακόμη πιο δύσκολος. Αυτός είναι ένα από τους τομείς ανησυχίας που μου εξέφρασαν γονείς νέων παιδιών (όπως είμαι κι εγώ) που ήδη χάνουν τη μάχη του ελέγχου. Μην περιμένετε υψηλότερο επίπεδο καθαριότητας από αυτό που βιώνατε πριν την πανδημία.
Βήμα 7ο. Χαλαρώστε Είναι η ημέρα των εγκαινίων. Έχετε βγει από την καραντίνα. Τα έχετε δώσει όλα για την προετοιμασία του event. Έχετε μεταφέρει και κρεμάσει όλους τους πίνακες. Τα φώτα έχουν στηθεί. Έχετε επικοινωνήσει με ειλικρίνεια στο κοινό σας και με καλοσύνη σε όλους τους συνεργάτες σας. Έχετε στείλει προσκλήσεις μέσω διαδικτύου και υπάρχει διαθέσιμο μικρόφωνο, σε περίπτωση που χρειαστεί. Φοράτε κάτι που σας ενθουσιάζει! Προσοχή – μην επιλέξετε τακούνια μετά από μήνες που δεν τα έχετε φορέσει! Τα δάχτυλα των ποδιών μου βίωσαν τρομακτικό επίπεδο μουδιάσματος μετά από αυτό το γεγονός, για πάρα πολλές μέρες!
Η εκδήλωση ξεκίνησε στις 6 μ.μ. Υπήρχε μια στιγμή μόνο, περίπου στις 5:30, όπου είχα ένα μικρό όραμα για το εγγύς μέλλον: Ξέρω ποια είμαι και τι έχω πετύχει, ξέρω τι πρόκειται να γίνει. Ήταν η πρώτη φορά που άφησα τον εαυτό μου να φανταστεί πώς θα είναι η εκδήλωση. Πριν από εκείνη τη στιγμή δεν θα μπορούσα να φανταστώ ένα όραμα της εκδήλωσης. Ο δικός μου φόβος για την ολοένα αναπτυσσόμενη πανδημία μου προκάλεσε πανικό. Μπορεί να μην ήταν μια τέλεια εκδήλωση, αλλά δεν θα μπορούσα να κάνω κάτι περαιτέρω, η τέχνη μου ήταν τόσο καλή όσο μπορούσε να είναι, στο μέγιστο των δυνατοτήτων μου, σε αυτήν την χρονική στιγμή.
Τελευταίο βήμα για τη ζωή γενικά (Ποτέ μην το ξεχάσετε) Ευγνωμοσύνη.
Ευχαριστώ τους καλεσμένους μου που ήρθαν. Ευχαριστώ συλλέκτες που επενδύσατε σε έναν καλλιτέχνη εν ζωή. Και αναγνώρισα ότι χάρη στο πείσμα και στην αφοσίωση στην τέχνη μου, πραγματοποιήθηκε μια ζωντανή εκδήλωση. Οι πραγματικές αλληλεπιδράσεις είναι γεμάτες με πιθανότητες για νέα τέτοια γεγονότα, και όλοι χρειαζόμαστε αυτό το είδος αισιοδοξίας σε αυτή τη χρονική στιγμή. Ευχαριστώ τον κάτοχο της γκαλερί που μοιράστηκε τον χώρο του. Ευχαριστώ τους δημοσιογράφους. Ευχαριστώ τη μπέιμπι σίτερ για τη φροντίδα του παιδιού μας. Ευχαριστώ τους αγαπημένους μου που με υποστηρίζουν. Και έτσι χτύπησα τον εαυτό μου ελαφρά στην πλάτη γιατί έφτιαξα κάτι νέο και ελπιδοφόρο και ζωντανό σε αυτό τον γελοίο κόσμο.
* Η Ταμάρ Λέβι είναι ζωγράφος και συγγραφέας παιδικών βιβλίων. Μεγάλωσε στην Αλάσκα, ζει στο Βέλγιο και έχει «παντρευτεί» την Ελλάδα.
The ever-bustling art scene in Brussels is having a come-back after the pandemic and one of the exhibitions not to miss is most definitely ‘IMMENSITIES” by the artist Tamar Levi, up in Art Base (29 rue des Sables Zandstraat, 1000 Bruxelles) until the 10th of October. The collection of around twenty paintings on her travels from Greece to Belgium was painted during the lockdown in Belgium, with the goal to create a window to the world for the viewer and evoke the feeling of freedom. On the occasion of the exhibition and intrigued by Tamar’s life and work, we spoke with the artist who first described to us more how it came to exhibition itself.
‘Due to the pandemic, studio spaces were closed so I painted these twenty canvases during lockdown in my apartment with my family right on top of me. The close quarters inspired a response to the pandemic in my art: I made the landscapes more expansive, and more of an escape view, to create more windows in people’s homes. That’s why the collection is called IMMENSITIES, it’s the big idea of freedom through my painted landscapes, freedom for the viewer’s minds and souls to expand into wide open spaces.’
And indeed, when you look at the pieces in the exhibition, you have this feeling of expansion and freedom, achieved not only by the lines of the strokes but also the fact that the painting doesn’t end with a frame – it flows over it and includes it in itself, breaking all the boundaries and creating a unique sculptural depth for the viewer.
‘My original idea of painting on the frame aims to draw the viewer into the scene, in a sculptural way. This provides the art collector with immediacy for hanging. The bespoke frames provide deep dimensionality. This allows the viewer to step into a scene. Another window for their home.’
And to make this new window view as beautiful as possible, Tamar spent a lot of time carefully choosing the right frames for the paintings to have the perfect match.
‘To prepare for this collection I hunted for the biggest and most beautiful antique frames from markets and auction houses in Athens, Greece and Brussels, Belgium. Then I affixed and painted both canvases and frame simultaneously.’
Tamar is already known to the Brussels audience through her several solo exhibitions and illustrations of books for children, with this exhibition being special for her as it build ups on all the work so far. Having always done drawings in her sketchbook and later illustrations for children’s books, she was now able to go back to those sketchbooks and find the original ideas behind the shapes for this painting collection.
EU PARLIAMENT FEMINIST FORUM ART SHOW BY TAMAR LEVI
‘I have always done drawings I normally illustrate in pen and ink in a minimalist zen continuous line style, however this collection is unusual for me; it was created with a bespoke mix of bright colours. I think of it as being in the Fauvist tradition of colour practice. These were worked on for months in colour theory research and applied as mixed media with oil pastels to create a cohesion in the collection and a sense of many dimensions in the image. The oil pastel on top of acrylic creates a link between my illustration work and my painting work.’
Growing up in Alaska, Tamar never expected to be based at the heart of European politics. She fell in love with a Greek man, whose career brought them here and then she fell in love with the city as well, with Brussels parks being now one of her main motifs.
‘I just cannot stop painting these parks. Is it some kind of secret that Brussels has over seventy parks and they are gorgeous and characterful and joyous too?’
ARTIST TAMAR LEVI AND HER SKETCHBOOK IN BRUSSELS (C)ANJA STRELEC
But Tamar’s fascination with Brussels doesn’t stop there. She sees Brussels as a buffet of nature and culture, exploring the city, museums and all aspects of art.
‘So far I have been exploring the comic book culture, which fits right in with my previous work and current graphic novel project. But I haven’t even started the adventure of discovering the dance culture, which I’m told is a very rich treasure here. I’m sure the talent on the dance scene will inspire some dance-related series of paintings…’
These are just some of the things that inspire this talented and energetic artist whose drive to create keeps moving her forward at all times, so we were very excited to hear about her upcoming projects and exhibitions.
‘My continuous line portraits of women, which were displayed with the European Parliament’s Feminist Forum, will be on exhibit again, this time at the upcoming TEDx conference here in Brussels. I’m really excited to share these portraits with a wider audience. Also, there’s this graphic novel I’ve been working on for 15 years now which I’m illustrating all in one line (but it has to be the right line!). Two years ago I performed the first chapter, all in one line, with live music to accompany the performance art, and so perhaps it’s time to work on the second chapter’s live performance?’
In the near future, Tamar will also start artistic workshops which we are sure will be a success. And if you would like to meet the artist, visit the gallery this Sunday, 4 October, between 2 and 6 pm and have a first-hand experience, enjoying the views Tamar created.
TAMAR LEVI, PORTRAIT BY IRIS HAIDAU
Interview by Iva Galovic. You can follow Iva on instagram for more interesting Brussels stories.
My art profiled on Belgian TV channel BRUZZ by master of the documentary art Anja Strelec.
My favourite part is how she caught my funky hair waving in the wind like a bug’s antennae!
I’m both delighted and sad my painting of the bluebell forest at Hallerbos was sold.
Being an artist is a labour of love and I went into labour after doing the initial sketches for this exact painting four years ago!
Technically it took all the years of my child’s life to complete the artistic vision I had that day in the forest.
And Tova Niovi just looked at this photo & said: “You had long hair when I was born and I had short hair then and now you have short hair and I have long hair; I could be YOUR mummy now.”
That’s not how time works, sweetie. But who am I to speak: I measure it in paintings. . .
“Hallerbos, Belgium” from the IMMENSITIES collection on show at Art Base until Oct 10th. Art Base, 29 rue des Sables Zandstraat, 1000 Bruxelles
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Brief Bio
Educated in London and Cambridge, Tamar has published as an author, illustrator and editor of multiple award-wining books designed for families, classrooms and doctors. Her prized artwork is highly collectible, commissioned by private collectors, sold at private auctions and exhibited in galleries around Europe.
