Movie Monday - 'Lilting'

It has been a while since I have done a movie Monday so I thought today I would pick a film which I saw a while ago now but has really stuck with me.

Set in London, Lilting tells the story of Cambodian Chinese mother Junn who after the death of her son Kai is left alone to live in a country she now has no connection with. Adding to her grievance is the presence of Richard, Kai's lover who longs to connect with Junn. As the two struggle to communicate without a common language they attempt to overcome their differences and share memories of a man they both loved.

The film is a beautiful exploration of grief,memory and love, highlighting the difficulties of finding the right way to express yourself and communicate with others. The language barrier between Junn and Richard is just one aspect of what makes their communication with one another so difficult, and what the director and writer Hong Khaou so brilliantly captures are the moments when the words of any language simply do not suffice to express emotion.

Lilting is shot beautifully and has a slow pace to it which is lifted with moments of drama and humour. I would recommend it as one to watch alone on a quiet afternoon - the subtitles and lack of dialogue means it requires a little more concentration to truly appreciate the subtle messages that the film portrays. 

Degree Show work

After what has seemed like a very long time I am finally about to complete my degree in Drawing and Applied Arts! The last few months have been an exciting and stressful whirlwind of manically making work, meeting deadlines and trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life...

The degree show exhibition opens this Friday from 6pm at the BowerAshton Campus, Bristol. All the arts degrees will be exhibiting final year work at the University so visitors can enjoy every kind of art form - from fashion to photography. You can visit the website for our degree here, it features examples and information about all the students creative practices. Everyone on the course has worked so hard these last few weeks to create an exhibition which is full of diverse and inspirational art.

 In my last post I wrote about the project on bees I was about to begin and my time spent with Skep maker, Martin. Well throughout the year I have been continuing to explore this theme, gathering information and myths and stories about the lives and livelihood of honeybees. I then created prints, embroideries and and a series of sketchbooks and most significantly made a large human sized bee home weaved from willow! 

The structure of the willow bee hive is inspired by the traditional skeps as well as the homes of solitary bees. It took several weeks of working on it until I was happy with the shape and form, I loved working with willow although it did present many challenges and limitations.

I will be posting some photographs of the finished willow dome as it is exhibited at the degree show, but for now here are some sneak peaks of the artwork I have created throughout the year in response to the theme of honeybees.

More images of my work can be seen on my brand new website!

 www.emmakitching.com

Finding hope

Lately it has become almost unbearable to follow the news and current affairs; from the terrible fights in Gaza, to the heartbreaking news of Robin Williams death, it seems that everywhere we turn we are faced with stories of tragedy and suffering.

However I feel it is important at times like this to appreciate human acts of true kindness and good will - because if you really look hard enough you will see that these are taking place everywhere too, its just we have come to overlook and dismiss them as we go about our day to day lives.

This week I have a personal story of kindness that I wish to share:

I have recently taken an interest in bees and beekeeping, and since I am about to embark on the third year of my art degree, I have decided to make this the theme and focus of my work. Over the summer I have been researching and gathering information about all things bees - from scientific information about all the different species, to ancient bee keeping traditions, folklore and myths. 

During my research I found some pictures of these beautiful bee skeps, which were traditionally used to keep bees in as well as moving swarms of bees back into a hive. The bee skeps are made by hand using straw and cane, however it is something of a dying craft as modern wooden hives are now more popular and skeps are not used so often.

I have a fondness for traditional crafts and therefore was delighted to stumble across the comprehensive website of Martin Buckle - an experienced bee keeper and talented skep maker. I decided to email him and enquire about doing some work experience or a one to one skep making course with him. I was keen to not only learn how to make a bee skep - but also to gain an insight into the life of a craftsman and how his beekeeping and skep making became more than a hobby but a way of life.

To my surprise Martin not only agreed to offer me one to one tuition in skep making, he also kindly offered for me to stay in his home with him and his wife for a few days instead of booking into a hostel.

I intend to write a separate blog post with lots of pictures and examples of the skeps and other creations I made during my stay with Martin, but for this post I just want to focus on how kind and gracious Martin and his wife were to me. I was not expecting him to offer me one to one tuition - however not only did he provide that, he also graciously welcomed me into his home, sharing his stories and endless wealth of knowledge and experience and sent me off equipped with tools and materials and plenty of inspiration  for continuing my work. 

Getting to know Martin and his wife Pam was an absolute pleasure - they were such an interesting couple and we found plenty to talk about. They refused any offer of payment for my stay or the tuition and materials that Martin gave me, insisting that it had been simply nice to have me there.

Experiences like this may be rare but I really feel that if everyone became a little more open to trusting the kindness of others, to making the effort to share and connect with someone you may initially have thought you had nothing in common with, then we could all gain so much.

It is important in times of darkness to hold on to every moment of joy and wonder. A smile from a stranger, a conversation with a shopkeeper, hearing the laugh of a child or having a hug from someone you love - these tiny, overlooked snippets of hope and love should not be dismissed, should not be overlooked. Just because they do not speak to us as loudly as some of the shocking headlines of the news it does not make them any less important or valuable. Appreciate every act of kindness, reflect on and soak up every brief flash of happiness, even if it last just second - it is precious and should be treated as such.