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Homo Urbanus

As lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease across the country our cities and urban spaces are starting to come back to life after months of hibernation. This time of isolation has provided us with a whole new appreciation for the cities that we live in and love to visit across the world. 

Video artists, filmmakers, producers and publishers Ila Beka & Louise Lemoine have been undertakng a long-term research project that looks at cities across the world and asks the question ‘what makes a city?’ 

Their collection of films ‘Homo Urbanus’ celebrates the vibrancy, rhythm and landscape of 10 different cities across the world. The films that are currently available are Bogota, Naples, Saint-Petersburg, Rabat, Seoul and Tokyo, with Doha, Kyoto, Shanghai and Venice coming soon.

Click the link below which will take you to their Vimeo account where you can purchase the films to watch! 

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Black Vessel

“If you make beautiful vessels, those vessels will cause people to gather” [Theaster Gates]

To end a week in which we’ve been looking at ongoing conversations surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and how this translates into diversity in architecture, we have chosen to share a film which talks about the notion of bringing people together in one place.

‘Black Vessel’ is a powerful and engaging short film by Chris Strong which follows Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates as he works at his kiln and talks about the metaphorical power of materials and process in his artwork. He discusses how material and craft can create a means for gathering and in this case, through the process of sculpture and pottery as he prepares for his exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in New York.

Gate’s work is known to respond to social history and is therefore focused on people and communities. His concept not only speaks to us as designers and makers, but is relevant to the conversations that we have been having this week and plan to continue having, as we hope to see a greater sense of bringing those together of different cultures, backgrounds and communities across the creative industries.

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