A surprise in St. Ives

I have been going to Cornwall for many years, but this year was my first visit to St.Ives, Tate Modern and the Barbera Hepworth museum. I found Barbera Hepworth's studio very interesting, with all the tools and part worked sculptures on display and it was amazing to think of the time involed in creating her sculptures. The garden of her cottage has been converted to display her work but the scale of some of the pieces seemed to dwarf the relatively small garden area.

What I hadn't expected to see was the exhibition at Tate Modern of works by five prominent members of "The Casablanca Art School" (CAS): Farid Belkahia; Mohammed Chabaa; Bert Flint; Antonella Maraini and Mohamed Melehi.

Moroccan independence in 1956 prompted an artistic revolution and the CAS opened its doors to Moroccan students and women. The new movement integrated modern art with Arab and Berber traditions creating vibrant works encompassing: abstract paintings; urban murals; crafts; graphics; interior design and typography.

What I loved was the their resillience against the status quo, being denied gallery space in 1969, the movement moved their exhibitions outside with the "Exposition-Manifeste / Presence aplastique". They used public squares in Cassablanca and the famous medina in Marakesh to bring their work to a new public and inspire a new generation of artists and artisans.

Tate Modern and the Barbera Hepworth Museum: