AR-TATE

Cultural and artistic halls offer us an opportunity to gather to admire paintings, plays, ballet, and symphonies. They also serve as spaces where we can all leave the preconceived ideas of our false identities and become open to the experimentation of being someone else, at least for a short moment. One of the many things I love about London is the vast amount of art throughout the city, and the majority of these cultural houses are free to access. I believe art should be democratic, and regardless of our economic background, we should all be able to enjoy and learn from these places.

Essentially octaviomolina.com is about that, a space I created to share my creative work, the work of other artists, the places I visit, and my overall outlook in life.

I was recently invited visit the TATE MODERN museum and experience the work of Lubaina Himid, a British artist, curator, and professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire. Her work focuses on themes of cultural history and reclaiming identities.

Without the work of Himid, none of the social movements of our modern history would be possible as she was one of the first artists to be involved in the UK’s Black art movement in the 1980s.

What struck me the most was to see that some of these pieces are 30 plus years old and how current they feel in emotion, segregation, and relevancy of what "we" as a society are still dealing with at the moment, if not worst, but still the same issues we were dealing with back then.

Lubaina's artwork serves as a reference and a reminder of how much work we still have left to do, that inclusivity should not only be a keyword used on a marketing campaign but also actions towards a more democratic environment that is egalitarian in its principles.

Technology, medicine, and infrastructure have significantly evolved in the 21st century, yet, we still can't seem to put behind our ridiculous preconceived ideas of who we think we are. Don't you think it's time?