Medellin, Colombia: Initial Impressions

So, I’ve been out in Medellin, Colombia for about 6 weeks now. Wow, what a time it’s been..! We stayed in an Airbnb, in an authentic neighbourhood, in an incredible flat, for an amazing price – but then decided to move to a far more convenient flat (in terms of being closer to the metro line, social meet ups, sports and generally being able to get about on foot to places), but are sadly living in a really not-so-great-place at anymore… doh! It’s not horrendous – just completely unreliable Internet; noisy walls (you can hear people speaking as if they’re right in your face) to dodgy electrics, sparseness and the occasional cold shower. All part of the experience, right..?

I’ve had lots of initial impressions on the city and country, so here goes: the people are short (the bathroom mirrors are in line with my chest); there’s always a child-sized toilet; you have to take toilet roll from the main stand into the toilet cubicle with you before using it; you need to put toilet tissue in the bin (like everywhere); people move slowly; people smile more; there are around 10 murders a week that take place in the city (down from around 10 a day a few years back!); they put sugar in bread (a lot) – and cheese; the local food is largely all deep-fried and served with a kilo of cheese - for good measure, clearly; people are health conscious from an exercise perspective (but not at all from a nutritional one – a very real and bizarre disconnect); the metro and transport system as a whole is relatively advanced and well run; the Colombians do not trust the police; there are a *lot* of Americans here; old Americans come here to retire; younger ones come over to work and travel; the Colombians are extremely friendly and helpful people; the taxi drivers drive like maniacs; Uber is illegal, but still in use (we have the app); the traffic is a bit crazy; there’s a lot of pollution; the city is set in a valley; people smile from a very natural and organic place (I suppose that would be from the heart?); hot dogs are the most consumed food by the locals wanting street food; the fruit and veg here is AMAZING (we try new ones each day); it’s hard to get a mobile phone network up and running as you effectively need to be a resident to get one; the streets are very clean; people vigilantly pick up their dog poo; there’s a large digital nomad community in the city; the Colombians wear sporty clothes – it’s not unusual to see a (beautiful) woman in a polo shirt, jeans and trainers; people are big on their beauty - there are barbers and beauty salons *everywhere*; a lot of expat restaurants are geared towards Americans (quarter pounders, heavy meat and all that jazz); foreigners are known as ‘gringos’; they get confused with who I am - I get stared at a lot, as a result of this confusion; as well as hot dogs, people LOVE their dogs *big* time – vets, pet groomers and shops are *everywhere* (built in between the human beauty salons); ‘tranquillo’ (it’s ok, chiiiill) leads the way; music is the king – it blares out from everywhere; some parts of the city look like what I imagine the US to look like (wide streets, big leafy trees, suburban-feeling; AC is not needed – the weather stays a perfect 28 degrees (approx.) all year round…

Here are some pics:

The central mid-town area in Medellin from a bridge

It's very common to see street vendors selling fruit - much to our delight!

Evolution taking place...

What's interesting about Medellin is that it's based in a valley, so all homes are built upwards, often not on the most stable of foundations. An amazing sight to see

The beautiful graffiti in 'Comuna 13' - an area now, on most occasions, safe to visit. It was previous over-run with gangs and was deemed far too dangerous to go to

Me in the botanical gardens. Open for free to the public, and absolutely beautiful!

Some of the stunning views across the valley, at disk - taken coming out of a metro station...

The view outside our apartment. Amazing how leafy and nice it looks, right?

Until next time! I’ll talk about the sites I’ve seen in the city (and beyond, I hope at this point).

Adiós Inglaterra!

And so. Tomorrow is the day! That I leave the eternal grey skies (ok, slight exaggeration) of the UK (Reading) for ‘la ciudad de la eterna primavera’ (the city of eternal spring) that is Medellin, in Colombia! I’ve been journaling in my diary for the past weeks so will be writing this up to share with you lovely people 😊

For those of you who don’t know, I’ll be leaving the UK to go live abroad and ultimately: have an adventure over the next year. This blog will track this adventure: before, during and after.

So one thing I’ve underestimated is the amount of prep that is needed! I’ve spent the last month running around like a headless being; organising all sorts from holiday jabs to banking - to car admin and mobile phone decontractifying (yes, I did just make that word up) to <yawn> yup, more banking. It’s completely boring, yet so crucial – to the point I think I’ll even write a blog post about banking alone!

I’ve had pretty mixed feelings over the past month; mainly in the form of stress (so much to doo!) to impatience (I just want to get there already!) to denial and hesitancy (why not just stay in Reading?!) – and a little excitement! Yes, you thought there may be a bit more of that, right..? Well honestly, it has not been primary emotion. It’s been largely: ‘let’s-get-this-done-and-then-move-on-to-the-next-task-and-oops-I-forgot-this’ – all while making my list that bit longer.

And now with less than 24-hours to go, the excitement is well and truly present. For real! I *actually* cannot wait! So, watch this space with more to come (while I head out to buy and sort out those last-minute bits and bobs and do my last min packing!)

Ciao for now and until Colombia!

Do I reeeally want to leave the splendours of Woodley behind...?

BBC South Today Reporting on Art in Launderettes – Mahlia Amatina

What does the future hold for the humble launderette....?

So I’ve recently been trawling through the launderettes of Reading, getting to know the local social hub of where fabric softeners meet gently ruminating washing machines.

Launderettes have been in decline in the UK with around 12,000 in the 1970s to around 3000 today, so it’s been really interesting to see how they are used and by whom. By bringing project ‘Around the World in 80 Washing Lines’ to Reading’s launderettes as part of the ‘Art in Unusual Places’ theme, I’m hoping to add renewed interest to Reading’s launderettes, while also inspiring spirited and thoughtful conversation around the art installation.

But what else can a launderette possibly offer and how are places outside of Reading keeping themselves in constant spin and evolve…?

Well, launderettes have recently gained a ‘retro’ appeal among residents in the UK and are becoming popular gathering places where customers can enjoy a wide range of amenities from art exhibitions to cocktail bars while they do their laundry (reference: Guardian Tues 8th March 2016).

Rock band ‘Real Fur’ have played a tour of the UK in launderettes, including one on the Roman Road in east London. It’s clear that originality is something they make a rule out of and this works both ways, with launderettes seeming to offer that little bit extra above the usual ‘wash and dry’. And what a great place to see a gig! A real cozy and intimate feeling – you’d really get to see the band up close and personal.

And then you have places like the ‘Laundromat Café’ chain across Scandinavia where they’ve allocated a whole floor to a café and social area with a fabulous menu and art exhibitions taking place periodically. What a fab idea in installing a real social hub and atmosphere around something as basic and mundane as a place where you wash and dry your clothes…?

Have you seen any interesting launderettes? Are they offering anything out of the ordinary? Please write in the comments below - I’d love to hear from you :)

Art in Unusual Places: Bringing Art into Launderettes

It’s exciting times at Amatina HQ, as funding was recently awarded for Reading’s Year of Culture theme ‘art in unusual places’! And what better than to feature a sample of project ‘Around the World in 80 Washing Lines’ in launderettes around Reading?

Why launderettes, you ask? Well, typically art tends to be exhibited in galleries and more traditional art venues. Laundrettes would provide people who may not typically engage with the arts with access to it. The art installation would provide an additional feature for the launderette, and a fitting one too. It’s a great way for launderettes to offer something different, and this is a topic I’ll be exploring in my next blog!

The residents of Reading will be the inspiration for my art making, as I plan to run a cross-section of workshops across community groups in Reading to engage with the various backgrounds and diverse make-up of people that we have. This will then provide the images and stories for the art installation that will be hung up in launderettes around Reading. I’m really looking forward to hearing and learning about the stories behind the washing lines directly from Reading residents!

The stories and images will then feed into the overall ‘Around the World in 80 Washing Lines’ project, which is all about culture, diversity and the similarities between us as human beings. I feel it’s an incredibly important message to highlight in today’s world, where often our attention is honed in on our differences.

So the workshops are to follow shortly and soon after the images will be hitting a launderette in Reading! I’ll keep you posted on progress across my social media platforms ;)

“Our Hospitals should be Galleries!”

Art Scope. The latest new gallery in Reading. High quality art. Beautiful gifts. Stunning sculptures. One thing though: it’s all under the roof of the clinical setting of a hospital…

That’s right, not your average destination for art, I know. But it’s surely one of the most powerful and impactful settings for art to be based, what with its ability to distract, interact and engage with the public? And then there’s the healing element of art and its ability to transcend traditional boundaries of communications.

The public atrium at the Circle hospital is the brainchild project of Rukshi Brownlow who put together the gallery at the initial building stages of the hospital. Believing in the fundamental ethos that ‘to create a beautiful space improves the experience for everyone’, she set about with this ambitious project to create an art gallery within a hospital, and has now set the ideal blue print for new Circle hospitals being built. She also states that ‘a recent study of art in 3 London hospitals showed that 9 out of 10 patients thought that the art made a difference to their experience, and 7 out of 10 patients were conscious that their anxiety levels were reduced as a direct result of the art’. A compelling fact.

One of the beauties of art in a hospital is that you have a captive audience. Patients are sat waiting for their appointments, and while doing so, they can attend to a piece of art – knowingly or not - and absorb themselves in a painting; something one may ordinarily not have the time to do. There’s also the relaxed beauty of no heaving crowds, people guarding the paintings, or that irritable wire that buzzes the second you come within a millimetre of a half metre away from the subject. The experience of art is a truly relaxing, beautiful and impactful one, and what I find really interesting is that the vast majority of patients have never visited a gallery before. So by bringing the art to the visitors, you’re being introducing to a whole new experience. Didn’t expect that from your hospital visit, did you?

There’s also something about the pure feeling of vulnerability in a hospital. It doesn’t matter who or what we are outside of a hospital; when we’re a patient, we’re dealing with an element of the unknown. We’re dependent on the views of Doctors and the outcome of tests and analysis: this isn’t our world and we don’t have the same control we harness and manifest in the rest of our lives. So the difference that art has to make in this setting is huge – and not just to the patients and visitors, but staff too.

The gallery has received ample positive feedback from visitors to the hospital and the scheme is being rolled out to select other Circle hospitals – that is the power, resolve and need for art in public spaces. And I am very lucky to have my art shown at the Reading Art Scope Gallery with my painting ‘Community Roots’. A seeming good fit with the hospital, as the painting explores the concept of laying down roots with the resources that we have, and growing a community of roots across our lifetime. Come take a look: these days, you needn’t be a patient to visit a hospital – everyone is very welcome :)

NOTE: The gallery is open Mon – Fri  from 8am to 6pm with free car parking and a café (with a Michelin star chef, no less!). Further details can be found on the website: http://www.artscopeatcircle.co.uk/

Barbed Wire, a Refugee and a Washing Line.

What a powerful, compelling and emotive photograph. Barbed wire, a refugee and a washing line. This photo came out as Angelina Jolie Pitt warned that the international humanitarian system for refugees is breaking down. She also warned against a "fear of migration" and a "race to the bottom" as countries have been competing to be the strongest to protect themselves from refugees.

The refugee crisis has truly become a global issue and as my project ‘Around the World in 80 Washing Lines’ highlights is that laundry doesn’t discriminate – we all have laundry to do irrespective of who, what or where we are in the world.