Writing as part of our World in London series, John Hollingworth, Galleries/Exhibitions Manager at the Brunei Gallery, explores the gallery’s relationship with the South-East Asian Sultanate.

The Brunei Gallery, SOAS is an exciting venue in central London that hosts a programme of changing contemporary and historical exhibitions from Africa, Asia and the Middle East and accompanying events. The Gallery’s aim is to present and promote art, heritage and cultures from these regions to a wider and new audience.

The gallery was built as a result of a generous benefaction from HM The Sultan of Brunei Darussalam to SOAS with the purpose of being both a student resource and public facility, and was inaugurated by HRH The Princess Royal, as Chancellor of the University of London on 22 November 1995. In addition to purpose built exhibition space on three floors facilities include the Japanese Roof Garden, book shop, lecture theatre, teaching and conference amenities.

In 2008 the gallery’s relationship with Brunei continued as we hosted the exhibition “The Islamic Sultanate of Brunei: Past and Present Culture” which contained artefacts from  archaeological sites in Brunei as well as Islamic art objects from the collection of HM The Sultan of Brunei Darussalam.

The exhibition included a beautiful selection of royal regalia used during royal and state ceremonies since the introduction of the Malay Islamic Sultanate in the 14th century. This was the first and only time any of this material had been shown outside of Brunei.

The Brunei connection continues to this day, with a number of objects in our own permanent collection from Brunei, a selection of which is displayed in our Foyle Gallery. One of the most important of these is a handwritten 19th century copy of Salsilah keturunan Raja-raja Brunei (A History of the Rajas of Brunei).

Beyond our Brunei connections, the gallery has an exciting programme of events in 2012, including three exhibitions opening from mid-April:

• The Fabric of Fieldwork combines for the first time the work of Wessieling and Ossman in an exhibition of paintings, sculpture and installations inspired by research in East Asia and North Africa.
• The Inheritance of British Colonial Architecture in Sudan: A Photographic and Film Journey, by Frederique Cifuentes, which explores the history of building and planning along the Nile valley.
• Kolam: Ephemeral Patterns for Eternal Prosperity is an exhibition by Anne Laine looking at the practice of drawing geometric patterns on the streets and at the entrances of houses in Southern India and Tamil notions of divinities, continuity and change.

The Brunei Gallery, SOAS is open from Tuesday-Saturday, 10.30am – 5pm, with late night opening on Thursday until 8pm. Admission is free. For more information visit www.soas.ac.uk/gallery or on facebook.

Have you been to The Brunei Gallery? Or do you know of any other London links with Brunei? Let us know in the comments section below.

Next in our World in London blog challenge is Palestine. The 2012 London Palestine Film Festival runs from 20 April 20 to 3 May. Sheyma Buali celebrates the rise of this unique event on London’s cultural calendar. 

For 15 years, the London Palestine Film Festival (LPFF) has been engaging growing London audiences with quality film made in and about Palestine.

Amongst the first festivals of its kind in the world, today the LPFF and its curatorial umbrella, the Palestine Film Foundation, is the leading authority on Palestinian cinema, consistently bringing rare and hard-to-find films to London screens. The Festival showcases both the newest in Palestinian production, and exposes audiences to classics and rediscoveries from across the breadth of cinema history. 

As a relatively diverse and progressive city, London makes an inviting space for cross-cultural and political debate; it is this open characteristic that explains the growth of Festival audiences.

The LPFF has built strong partnerships with a wide variety of London-based arts initiatives; it has also secured precious statutory funding for its unique contribution to the city’s rich cultural calendar. The Festival exists today as a Palestine-focused project that is emphatically at home in the British capital. 

First held in 1998 with a VHS recorder in a classroom at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), today the LPFF takes place over a fortnight at four major venues across the city. The bulk of the programme is hosted at the Barbican Centre. But in keeping with its origins and the Foundation’s belief in the educational role of film-led debate, the LPFF maintains a number of screenings at University of London venues, offered on a “pay-what-you-can” basis, ensuring no-one is priced out of the Festival. 

The LPFF’s strengths lie in both the richness of the films on offer, and in the calibre of its guest speakers. Indeed, for the Palestinian and broader Arab communities in London, the LPFF’s value derives from establishing new spaces for cultural and intellectual exchanges, bringing London communities together with students, actors, academics, and cineastes alike. In recent years, the Festival has attracted leading directors Michel Khleifi, Elia Suleiman, Kamal Aljafari, and Eyal Sivan and renowned scholars and writers Ella Shohat, Ahdaf Soueif, and Ilan Pappe. With scores more preeminent speakers engaging with Festival audiences annually, the LPFF has emerged as a prized space for London audiences to discuss myriad questions related to Palestine in thought-provoking and fresh ways.

As the Festival has continued to expand beyond cinema screenings, an annual visual arts exhibition has been added to its highlights. Remarkably, this remains free to the public, hosted at the Barbican Centre. The 2012 exhibition provides a rare showcase of work by 15 video artists from Palestine (6-27 April).

With its annual fortnight packed with panel discussions, UK Premieres, art exhibitions, director talks, and even a new youth outreach programme, the LPFF is firmly on its way to becoming the leading cultural event related to Palestine in Europe. What’s more, this year promises an additional bonus in the form of three special “Pre-Festival Events” from late March – stay tuned online for details, tickets, and updates: http://www.palestinefilm.org/

Can you suggest any other places to get a taste of Palestinian culture in London? Let us know in the comments below

Pianist Tala Tutunji is half Turkish and half Palestinian. She grew up in Jordan, studied in the UK, and now splits her time between Jordan and London. Her aspiration is to bring musicians together to transcend distance, borders and culture.

Tutunji runs Middle Eastern music courses at Chelsea Music Academy, which she founded with composer Bushra El-Turk. Her next London performance will be at Concert for Peace and Prosperity: Eastern Voices – Western Echoes at Cadogan Hall on 20 February.

We caught up with her for our World in London series.

How long have you been based in London?

I moved to the UK when I was 14 and went to Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. I came to London from 2005 to 2009 and this is where I did my Masters at Trinity and also worked at the same time.

Right now I’m based between London and Jordan. For this year I’m based in Jordan but I’m always coming in and out of London. I can’t stay away! I travel to London whenever I have concerts, which is four to five times a year.

How would you describe your music?

I was classically trained, so there’s a strong Western classical influence. But because I’m Middle Eastern I try to do a fusion of both worlds and explore that.

I perform music which is by contemporary Arabic composers. It could include the piano and also Arabic instruments at the same time, such as the qanun, which has the same strength and body as a grand piano but is smaller.

We did an event for Opera Holland Park in October last year where we were asked to “Arabise” popular Western operas. It was a really interesting event.

We worked with the opera singers from Opera Holland Park and brought some Arabic musicians, and instruments like the nai, which is the Arabic version of the flute.

What can people expect to see and hear at the concert on 20 February?

I’m really excited to perform in this concert because there are many opera singers from Syria, Jordan, Jerusalem and Lebanon. We’ll be performing with the Orion orchestra, a Western orchestra. It will be an interesting blend of Western classical opera with Arabic music as well.

The music is based on a Lebanese folk tune but also has the Western classical influence. I’m going to speak a little bit in Arabic, trying to act as a vocalist at the same time. It will start Western and gradually get more Oriental towards the end of the concert.

With the Arab Spring it’s the perfect thing to do, to try and stretch the boundaries and explore all the different influences.

Do you have any other performances coming up in London?

We’re planning to do another event, Al Bassara (the fortune teller). We’ll probably work with more Eastern European influences on that. Hopefully that will be in summer 2012 in London, we’re not sure where yet.

Tell us about the Middle Eastern music courses at Chelsea Music Academy

We’re organising various events including Middle Eastern workshops for people. We’re working in London to spread the word on Middle Eastern musical influences.

Sometimes, prior to a concert, we do various workshops so people know more about the music when they come to a concert.

Where else would you go for a taste of Jordanian culture in London?

I know a lot of Lebanese and Palestinian places but I haven’t been to anywhere in London that has a Jordanian taste – yet!

There’s the Anglo Jordanian Society which does a lot of things. And there are the Maroush restaurants which are practically Jordanian. There are a lot of events organised through SOAS.

Now that I’m away from London for a while I really appreciate the eclectic feel of London. Sometimes when you leave you start to appreciate what it’s all about!

Do you have more Jordan in London recommendations? Let us know in the comments below.

Photos: www.flickr.com/photos/toastyoneuk

For our Myanmar [Burma] in London post we asked Htein Lin, a Burmese artist who was part of last year’s last year’s Burmese Art Festival, to write this roundup of where to find Burmese people, culture and food in London. Htein Lin is a former political prisoner who moved to London in 2006 on marrying the British Ambassador to Burma.  He lives near the Oval.

There are thousands of Burmese living in London, most of whom have arrived as doctors, students or refugees since the military took over in 1962, as well as many others of Anglo-Burmese and Burmese-Indian heritage tracing their roots back to the colonial period. While there is no Burmese quarter, many live near to the five Burmese Buddhist monasteries in Wembley, Hounslow, Colindale, Whitton and Beckton.

Both the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum have some Burmese items on display, mostly Buddha statues, including a large early 19th-century Buddha which forms the centrepiece of the BM’s Hotung Gallery.

Nobel Prize winning dissident Aung San Suu Kyi studied at SOAS [University of London's School of Oriental and Asian Studies]  in the 1970s, and it is the only place in the UK where you can learn Burmese as part of a full degree or in evening courses. Her father Aung San visited London in 1947, staying at the Dorchester, and signed an agreement with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee in 10 Downing Street. Longstanding dictator General Ne Win used to holiday in a house in Victoria Road, Wimbledon and visit the races.

The Mandalay restaurant on Edgware Road is the best-known Burmese restaurant in London and good value. During the daytime try the Yadana Café near North End Market in Fulham. For take-away and outside catering we recommend Mum’s House, which also stocks Burmese ingredients like leq-peq (pickled tea), as does the Shwe Mandalay Oriental Supermarket in Hounslow.

The Britain Burma Society meets six times a year at the Medical Society in Chandos Place W1 bringing together people with an interest in Burma for a lecture and social event.

The London monasteries are the centre of Burmese cultural activity and events, including the Thingyan New Year Water Festival in mid-April, Buddha Day in May, and the start and end of Lent in July and October. Ethnic Minority students also organise New Year’s events such as the Shan (December), Kachin (January) and Mon (February).

The other Burmese social centre is the pavement outside the Burmese Embassy at 19A Charles street W1, which regularly hosts demonstrations against the military government by exiled Burmese: 4 January (Independence Day), 27 March (Resistance Day) and 18 September (when the military came to power) are likely days for a demo.

Have you experienced Burmese culture in London? Tell us about it in the comments below.