The Surreal House at the Barbican

"There was a door
There was a key
I opened the door and
the key wouldn't stop
Bleeding"

I wrote the poem above after I have started re-re-re-reading the indispensable book by Clarissa Pinkola Estes- Women Who Run with the Wolves.



I first heard of the book back when I was teaching English in an independent school in Sao Paulo over 15 years ago. All the girls were talking about it - either reading it or intending to.

On my copy of the book, thanks to my semi-obsessive mania of writing on it and adding the date when I read it - I can tell how much this book has been through with me over the years. Also I can see how some lessons take years and years to be assimilated and learnt.

But the funny thing is that I got a text message today from a friend whom I have not seen in a long time telling me about a current exhibition at the Barbican, The Surreal House -showcasing the works of artists like Francesca Woodman and Rebecca Horn and the late Louise Bourgeois.

Rebecca Horn's Piano

Somehow, for me, this highly personal and probably generally irrelevant occurrance is connected to the news of the show.

Here's the link for the Barbican website and the exhibition: www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery