A ROYAL SELLOUT: Panasonic's Royal Booty

I can't seem to keep my side of the bargain and here goes another diversion from the weekly musings I promised. But with Wills and Kate approaching their second wedding anniversary -foetus in tow- who better to reignite my commitment?! Celebrating the royals may have prevented me going to Brownies as a child raised on the left but I'm damned if it gets in the way of me and some booty.

So at the risk of compromising my integrity and with the intent of avoiding writing something throughly intellectually brilliant I have assumed the position of royal dj. 

In truth, One Chocolate got in touch and asked if I would like to take part in a competition to promote Panasonic’s brand new wireless speakers, the NE Series. The task, to create a ‘Top 5′ playlist to celebrate Kate & Wills’ second wedding anniversary. 

1. Pulp - 'Common People' 
Keeping it real with common Kate. 

2. Mystery Jets - 'Half in Love With Elizabeth'
Family Affair: Kate vs. Queen & Country

3. Beyonce & Jay Z - 'Bonnie & Clyde' 

Indestructible: Will's and Kate could learn a lot from Jay and Bey - perhaps not in terms of baby names - but a dinner party must happen. 

3. Justin Bieber - 'BABYBABYBABY'...

Heirs & Graces: Seems appropriate with a royal bun in the oven and with 848,983,349 views on youtube to date Bieber is probably the only baby who'll receive equivalent attention. 

5. Cheryl Cole 'Fight For This Love'
And finally: Lets not forget Kate hung on in there. But more importantly the Duchess is said to have donned Cheryl's famous split trousers and have been step perfect during her performance of Cheryl's 'Fight For This Love' on her hen do, so naturally we should encourage the recreation of this moment.

Also this is never inappropriate...

The Duchess of Newcastle 

UPCYCLED OPULENCE: Akleriah's 'Quedenraha' at the Queen's House Greenwich

Apologies for my absence. Naturally I have been crazy busy conquering the world and simply compassionate enough to give you reprieve from whatever chains of responsibility, guilt or lunacy that bring you here and not on any kind of "intellectual vacation". Here is a review I was asked to write for Akleriah.

On Saturday 23rd as most of us sought shelter under our duvets from the mad March snow, I was invited to attend, ‘Quedenraha’ the latest piece from performance art collective, Akleriah. Commissioned by the Queens House in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, ‘Quedenraha’ is a thirty minute, site specific performative response to the Queen’s House’s latest exhibition, ‘Alice Kettle: The Garden of England’. Curating new and existing work, artist Alice Kettle’s exhibition primarily celebrates the aesthetic of the monarchs and courtiers of the historic building (originally built in 1616 by architect Inigo Jones for Queen Anne of Denmark) and its original setting as a garden retreat.  Through the framework of their own creative aesthetic, heavily influenced by traditional handcraft and upcycling and in this instance the historical influence of courtly masques, Akleriah present a rich tapestry of dance, music and art. ‘Quedenraha’ challenges the audience’s perception of this space and the traditional understanding of gender, status and the body it upholds.

Subversion is a theme central to ‘Quedenraha’, in its careful devising traditional elements of masques are intertextually referenced and subverted. The role of the Queen is typically divided into two characters allowing for two identities to be explored, but the Queen acknowledged by the other performers and given higher status in the piece is played by a male performer. The audience is prompted to engage with the protagonist of the piece as an exploration of gender and body rather than of royal indulgence. Similarly, choreographed ensemble dance by Holasz, typically seen in traditional masques is present in moments of lively ensemble performance and then respectively subverted by Akleriah choreographer, Lenka Horakova in the division of the performers and consequently the audience’s attention. The audience of this piece is wonderfully encouraged to independently negotiate the space and elect the part of the performance they wish to engage with.  Akleriah’s work engages with postmodern principles of the de-hierarchization, they seek invited and public audiences to participate in all their work and beautifully facilitate as unconstrained an experience for the audience as possible.

Costume plays a pivotal role in ‘Quedenraha’ and is in conversation with the history of the Queen’s House and the historic botanical gardens which surround it. Akleriah’s Anna Kompaniets designed and created the costumes that were influenced by traditional Elizabethan, Tudor, Baroque and Rococo costume but created predominantly using upcycled contemporary consumer waste. The Queens and other cast members are heavily adorned with beautiful costumes handcrafted from materials such as plastic bags which effectively places the opulence of traditional courtly masques in an imagined utopian eco-conscious context. The experimental use and transformation of recyclable materials that has become intrinsic to their work provides a strong, vibrant and opulent aesthetic for the piece and facilitates a contemporary translation of traditional masque elements within ‘Quedenraha’. 

One can draw interesting parallels with the politics at play in ‘Quedenraha’ and those in the original courtly masques commissioned by its Queens. Historically Queen Anne of Denmark adorned controversial disguises whilst partaking in the masques she commissioned, even painting herself as a black queen during a performance of Ben Jonson’s ‘Masque of Blackness’. In ‘Quedenraha’ the Queens of the house provoke comparable controversy for a contemporary audience through their adornment of consumer waste.  I was intrigued by Akleriah’s affiliation of the status, beauty and opulence inherent to the spectacle of a masque with their transformation of consumer waste. Akleriah’s ‘Quedenraha’ effortlessly evokes history and art through which it beautifully seduces its audience into a reimagined world of surreal contemporary opulence at the Queen’s House. 

The performance marked the first in a series of events at the Queen’s House, Royal Museums Greenwich. The 'Garden of England' exhibition is free and runs until the 18 August.

Images via Caroline Skene 

Image via the Royal Museums of Greenwich