Ai Weiwei is a controversial figure wherever he goes. While his activist streak has earned him more than one headline in the media, particularly in connection with the problems he has with the regime in his native China, his artistic facet has also put him under the spotlight in all the exhibitions he unveils, given the political denunciation behind his work. Last year it was the Royal Academy of London that enshrined him as the great international artist he is. Now it is Vienna’s turn as it hosts an exhibition, running until 20 November, of his latest works. This is the largest display of Ai Weiwei’s work so far in Austria.

A Temple in the Museum

Under the title, Translocation – Transformation, referring to the metamorphosis which people and objects undergo after a deliberate relocation, migration or expulsion, the event features several installations by Ai Weiwei distributed over different spaces in the Belvedere Gardens. The main feature of the exhibition, curated by Alfred Weidinger, is located in the former Austrian pavilion for the 1958 World Expo, currently used as a platform for promoting contemporary art under the name 21er Haus. Displayed in the interior is the Wang Family Ancestral Hall, an installation which is unlikely to leave the viewer unmoved. This 14-metre-high exhibit made up of 1,300 separate pieces is an ancestral temple from the Ming Dynasty. The temple, which belonged to the Wang family, a clan of tea merchants who were expelled from China during the Cultural Revolution, was thus abandoned. Ai Weiwei acquired it from an investor some time ago and transformed it into what we see today, a decontextualised work which coexists and communicates with other architectural environments.

Another exhibition site, the Upper Belvedere pond, showcases the installation, F Lotus, where the artist elicits a reflection on subjects unfortunately in the limelight in recent years, notably the refugee crisis besetting Europe. The work comprises 1,005 discarded life vests picked up on the beaches of Lesbos after being used by Syrian refugees on their sea crossing to Europe. They are set in a total of 201 rings linked to resemble the lotus flower, the overall structure forming a hugefin the water.

Another work displayed in the Upper Belvedere pond is the Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, a veritable classic of Ai Weiwei’s oeuvre. Composed of twelve bronze heads standing for the signs of the zodiac in the Chinese horoscope, they are inspired by the fountain-clock at the summer palace of Yuanming Yuan which was ransacked by French and British troops during the Second Opium War in 1860. The treasures – including the heads – were looted and have never been returned since.

Eager to see the work of Ai Weiwei first-hand? Be sure to make a getaway to Vienna – book your Vueling here.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Barcelona never sleeps, not even in the summer, quite the opposite in fact. In July, the city dances to its very own soundtrack as it becomes the venue for a whole host of top musical events. So as you can see, July is not just about sun and beach, it's also the month of music in Barcelona.

On the far side of Bearpit lies Stokes Croft, the bohemian area seething with music bars, clubs and cafés with multi-purpose basements like the one in Cafe Kino or The Art House, where what caught our attention on their menu were the paninis christened with the names of the most popular local electronic bands. For a rather quick, nutritional eat – even in vegan variety – we can also recommend the nearby restaurant in the local Biblos chain where we tasted the wraps and shared food trays. The same street features one of Banksy’s first murals, “Mild Mild West”, a teddy bear brandishing a Molotov cocktail as a group of bobbies approaches, painted after clashes between riot police and ravers in 1999. The graffiti is at the entrance to Hamilton House, a building housing cooperatively managed artists and start-ups with a spacious, crowded bar called The Canteen. There we had arranged to meet Euan Dickson, the young sound engineer of Massive Attack, celebrated Bristol citizens and the most prolific survivors of so-called Trip Hop. Dickson has overseen the gestation of their music since early 2000, including the albums “100th Window”, “Heligoland” and the recent EP “Ritual Spirit”. He also operates as a keyboardist in their world tours, although he admits having reached music by a different route: “When the band released ‘Mezzanine’ in 1997, I was only 10 years old! Oasis prompted me to take up the guitar, but it was PJ Harvey and Radiohead that opened up a new world for me. I was lucky enough to have my Dad recommend me as a porter in the Massive Attack studio, where I also learned to use Pro Tools and, thanks to my enthusiasm, ended up helping them with their music”, Euan Dickson revealed to us in the company of two friendly mates of his and a few pints we shared in good cheer.

We chatted about the racial diversity in the city, the result of immigration in the fifties, which has also seen some conflict. Nowadays “it’s just taken as normal because you grow up with people from everywhere. Bear in mind that 70% of Bristol voted to stay in the EU in the Brexit referendum”, Dickson explains. In fact, the origins of the group he plays in is deeply rooted in the vibrant scene born of that cultural mix. Since the 70s, the Jamaican diaspora has left its musical mark on the St Pauls suburb, an area where riots broke out in 1980 in response to a police raid. It would also have been the haunts of the young DJ Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles, Grantley “DaddyG” Marshall and the then graffiti artist, Robert “3D” Del Naja, later recognised as the original core members of Massive Attack. In the eighties, they jointly founded one of the first “sound systems” in the United Kingdom, the legendary Wild Bunch, which also included such illustrious Bristolians as Tricky, a future collaborator of the group and, subsequently, a star in his own right, and Nellee Hooper, a star producer of Soul II Soul, Björk, Madonna and Gwen Stefani. Between steamy reggae and punk activism, the first New-York-style spray and lettering, sweaty MCs and incisive scratches, dark nights and cold rain, the original foundations of Trip Hop were laid. The controversial label was applied to the scene sparked by Massive Attack, together with other local groups that achieved global recognition, like Smith & Mighty, Kosheen and the acclaimed Portishead, the latter named after the nearby town and birthplace of their lead, Geoff Barrow, who met Beth Gibbons when he was earning a living as a singer in Bristol’s night spots.

As if Massive Attack’s ties to the local underground were not enough, there is even a theory which identifies Del Naja as the face behind Banksy. Although we had been warned that the group were fed up with the subject, we couldn’t help slipping the question. “If 3D were Banksy, I would have found out long ago”, Dickson asserted. He added that the headlines came out the day before the band were due to hold a big concert in their hometown and that, “when 3D turned up at the rehearsal, Daddy G began to shout, ‘Look everybody , Banksy’s arrived!’, and we fell about laughing”.

We said goodbye to Dickson and started reviewing the development of local electronic music. At the same time Trip Hop was flourishing, another native of Bristol was coming to the fore – Roni Size who, together with the collective, Reprazent, would define drum and bass, spawning a host of sub-genres that continue to feed the city with breakbeats. For instance, while London is regarded as the nerve centre of grime, Bristol is the birthplace of renowned DJ and producer Joker, said to have a spectacular home studio here. Another local figure is DJ Blazey, from the Bodynod collective. He has managed countless clubs dedicated to urban sounds combining rap, electronic and reggae. Unfortunately, we didn’t coincide with any of them, but we were able to attend a whole night of dub, dubstep and grime sound featuring two beacons of UK Urban Music, The Bug and Flowdan. They performed for a radically young, totally devoted crowd in the gigantic, multi-space Lakota, in the Stokes Croft area. Other clubs where fans queue up at the weekend are the neighbouring Blue Mountain and SWX, in Broadmead. Sure enough, electronic seems to well up by spontaneous generation in a city which is also home to the boisterous Fuck Buttons and The Third Eye Foundation, the alter ego of Matt Elliot, also a singer of dark folk.

Well, music is just everywhere in Bristol – in the transhumant buskers who entertain tourists with their guitar playing, in the numerous shops selling instruments and in the new record stores – like Idle Hands, a must-visit for electronic devotees – that have emerged in place of the plethora of forerunners that closed down during the previous decade. However, the sound is experienced above all in the endless array of music bars and concert halls like The Lanes, where that weekend various members of Fun Lovin Criminals DJ’ed. On Saturdays they host Mod nights, currently featuring DJ Andy Crofts of Paul Weller Band fame at the helm. Others include the famous venue Louisiana – “The Louie”, among friends – or the large syndicated auditorium O2 Academy, used for big occasions. Pubs, too, notably the seedy The Surrey Vaults or The Crofters Rights where, apart from tasting a huge number of craft beers, we spent an evening organised by the London label Trashmouth Records and caught sight of Big Jeff, an endearing local figure whose presence at a concert acts as an endorsement of your choice of venue from among the endless offerings in the city.

All music is welcome and, if one day it is electronic that blares out, this doesn’t mean the next day  guitars shouldn’t prevail. No wonder, then, that Bristol is also the city of Wayne Hussey, the former Sisters of Mercy guitarist, and singer of The Mission, both beacons of gothic rock. Also hailing from Bristol are rockers like The Alligators and Rob Ellis, the drummer, producer and arranger known for his close collaboration with PJ Harvey for over two decades. The band Airbus is from nearby Portishead and is actually a spin-off from the group of the same name and with whom they recorded the B-side track “Sour Times”. But, if you’re looking for harder sounds, there are the small standout classics by Onslaught who were part of the thrash metal explosion in the eighties and split up shortly afterwards, only to reunite in 2004. Then there are Jaguar, part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and the hardcore punk group Disorder. So, Bristol begets a penchant for sharp riffs, as evinced in the crowded 3-storey pub, Mother’s Ruin, or at the venue Stag and Hounds, where that weekend happened to feature a performance by Olanza whose bassist is the son of the Black Sabbath drummer.

And, of course, we can’t overlook the fact that some seminal post-punk groups like The Pop Group and Glaxo Babies were founded in Bristol in the late seventies, followed the next decade by such acolytes as The Agents, The Escape and Rip Rig + Panic, whose members include the selfsame Neneh Cherry who would subsequently let Massive Attack use the kitchen in her London flat as a studio during the group’s initial forays in the metropolis. Bristol also witnessed the birth of two members of the popular Bananarama. And, another yardstick of mainstream eighties, the sorely missed Tears for Fears, came together in nearby Bath, where the Propellerheads also emerged. This is clearly fertile ground for music.

The rain never let up throughout our time in the city and, while we never quite grasped the rationale behind some locals – obviously used to such downpours – calmly strolling about in shirtsleeves or jerseys, we did come to appreciate the early nightfall and stimulating cold of Bristol in winter. We admired the city while recalling the verse by Beth Gibbons: “All mine / you have to be / from that cloud / number nine”. And, although soaked through, we felt lucky to be treading its streets.

Did that catch your fancy? Inspiring, isn’t it? Well, don’t leave it at that – get a flight and experience it for yourself. Check out our dates and times here.

Text by Mondo Sonoro and Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, to be held this year from 21 to 31 May, has its origins in the small Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye, some 50 kilometres from Cardiff. An annual event, it brings together writers, musicians, film-makers and other leading lights of the art world. The main goal of the festival is to open up channels of dialogue between the various cultural fields, an idea which has been exported to other countries and has prompted similar events in England, Spain, Colombia, Kenya, India, Mexico, the Lebanon and Hungary. Featuring over 900 activities spread over a ten-day period, its participants include some of the world’s finest intellectual talent.

Not Only Letters

The festival does not live by letters alone. It also hosts conferences and workshops on painting, social activism, medicine, sport and architecture. Notable, too, is the music scheduled for this year, offering live performances by London’s King Charles, a winner of the International Songwriting Competition, the Glasgow group Texas, whose twenty-five-year career is marked by the release of their disc, “Texas 25”, and the Touareg musical ensemble, Tinariwen, among many others.

A Festival For Children and Families

Hay Fever is the name by which the children’s version of the festival is known. Noteworthy scheduled activities include story-telling, illustration workshops tutored by the world’s leading story illustrators, puppet theatre and children’s concerts. Check out the varied programme for all ageshere.Hay-on-Wye is located in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It is the ideal starting point for viewing its stunning natural beauty and participating in open-air activities, like embarking on a panoramic cruise down the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canalor hiring a canoe to paddle along it with the whole family.

Hay-on-Wye – the Town of Books

Hay-on-Wye, the original, authentic town of books, has a charm all its own, as evinced in its houses and cottages. The town is packed with delightful bookshops, their shelves crammed with second-hand books. But, how did it actually become a magnet for book-lovers? It all started when Richard Booth, a bibliophile and Oxford graduate, turned up one day in this small town on the border between Wales and England with the firm intention to establish it as a world literary landmark. He purchased the fire station and castle and set up second-hand bookshops on the premises. The idea caught on quickly and other bookshops joined in, turning the town into a tourist destination for book enthusiasts. Hay-on-Wye, with a population of under 2,000 inhabitants, is currently estimated to house up to a million books.

Richard Booth still has his two bookshops in Hay-on-Wye. The largest of them, Richard Booth’s Bookshop, at 44 Lion Street, is a charming timber store including a cinema and cafe. The other one, Hay Castle Bookshop, is located in Hay Castle. One of its towers houses the large bookshop run by Booth’s wife, and there are umpteen metres of shelves crammed with books in the garden, too. Here, there are no shop assistants – you choose the book you want and put your money into the so-calledhonesty boxes.

Are you rearing to go? Check out our prices here!

Text: Scanner FM

Images: Stephen Cleary | Hannah Swithinbank