More Photos

We’re now very happy to have the amazing photographic talents of Ian Cox from Wallkandy with us and he’s been doing a top job documenting the goings on in Kubuneh village. Here’s a few of his snaps from the village.

Diary Entry #3. ‘Where does that Bolong Belong?’ – Xenz.

I now understand what WOW means, I’m not gonna tell you because its better if you find out yourself, but what I will say is it’s amazing but you could probably have guessed that so if you’re still reading I’ll tell you about today….Me and Eelus got in a jeep and went to a school in a remote village (Makumbaya) where we were greeted by hundreds and hundreds of children just going absolutely BONKERS! Its hard to overstate how happy these kids were; Everyone asking ‘hello’, ‘what’s your name?’, ‘how are you?’ and shaking our hand, it was really good . Anyway, it pans out that I end up painting a quick map of the Gambia on the school wall but I only had a text book from the 90s to copy the river and with the assistance of the teachers we managed to get a rough renditon of the map on the wall whilst demonstrating how art is brilliant and can be fun. But…. I only had a few colours and only had a fat cap, one that sprays paint fast in a thick line, the kind I like using when im drunk in the dark, the kind I use when I don’t want to do something that hundreds of kids will use as reference for exams and generaly conversations about their home land…have alook at a map of the gambia …theres very long names…the teachers dictated them to me it was a bit like Countdown or Scrabble, but with spraycans and geography. This was a very rough map that I’d painted on the exterior wall of the school, I did it quick while my skin boiled in the sun but I got a few things wrong as you would anyway. The tributarys of the river are called bolongs and I ended up asking where does this bolong belong anyway..blaa blaaaa you had to be ther it was very funny. I said to the teacher as I left I learned a lot today. I learned how to paint small letters and long words with a fat cap and that for every bad dirty fat cap tag I did when I was 14 I got all my karma today and it was fucking brilliant.

-Xenz.

First Peek

Cans have been unpacked, colours chosen, brushes have been in motion and Wide Open Walls is finally fully underway. Here’s a peek at what’s been going on so far over here at Kubuneh Village.

Many more photos and posts to follow as the project progresses.

 

Interview on Zeitgeist Blog

An awesome new site to rise from the depths of everything arty and cultural is Zeitgeist Blog. I had a chat with them about the project and you can read how it went HERE.

Interview on Juxtapoz

Big thanks to Sandra Butterfly for getting this online. Read it HERE!

Sneak Peak

To wet your appetites a little, here’s a sneak peak at one of the new pieces I’ll be painting out at Kubuneh. One of my classic images, ‘Raven Haired’, but given a new lease of life with an African twist. All the birds used in the image are native to The Gambia.

Press Up North.

When Trust is the New Money.

October is a busy month for the Broken Crow duo. Not only are they preparing work for the mud huts of The Gambia, they’re also destroying their fingers cutting stencils for their first ever collaborative solo show.

“When Trust is the New Money” opens at XYandZ Gallery on Friday, October 1st 2010 at 7:00pm. Everyone here at the W.O.W treehouse wanna wish John and Mike the best of luck with the show.

Lucy McLauchlan Interview

Not only are the W.O.W team lucky enough to have Lucy on this years line-up, but we’re also excited to have the skills of the art scene’s favourite photographer along for the ride. Ian Cox of Wallkandy is a well known documenter of the scene and his fantastic photographs capture the goings on of anything worthwhile in the world of street art, urban art, whatever you want to label it.

You can read a recent interview with Lucy BY Wallkandy HERE as she talks about her last show at Lazarides Gallery in London.

Welcome to the Wide Open Walls blog!

Greetings one and all!

With the first ever W.O.W project kicking off in under 3 weeks time, we thought it’d be a good idea to set up this blog so you can not only get more info on the project and the artists, but you can SUBSCRIBE to us and be kept up to date with all the news and goings on. When the artists arrive in The Gambia, we’ll be updating the blog daily with photos, videos and diary entries so that you can all follow the journey as closely as possible.

The blog layout and content is still under construction so please bear with us.

Thanks!

Eelus