PEOPLE
Hassan Hajjaj
The sound of modern gimbri-driven Moroccan music spills out of the tiny office space at the rear of the artistic treasure trove that is Hassan Hajjaj’s long-standing Calvert Avenue emporium. Hajjaj is on a fleeting visit to his east London HQ, fresh from the launch of his book By Hassan Hajjaj: Photography, Fashion, Film, Design, published by Rose Issa Gallery. His modest demeanour belies the fact that his bold 21st-century photo and video works, which blur western and Islamic cultures while nodding to Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, are enjoying a warm critical reception at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Houston’s Fotofest 2014 Biennal: Contemporary Arab Photographic Art. Arriving in north London from Morocco at the age of 12, he later launched his first club night at Titanic in Berkeley Square, and set up RAP to design and sell clothing and accessories. But inevitably, his work took him back to his north African roots. He introduced capoeira to Morocco and has documented three generations of Gnawa master musicians. And post-9/11, the world changed. Whatever he produces as an artist resides in its shadow. Undaunted, he laughs and pulls up a work in progress, a self-styled B-movie portraying a day in the life of one of his Rock Stars, a veiled henna artist. He likes the idea of “a heroine whose face you never see” and says he’d like to screen it as X-rated in France. Hajjaj’s work feistily tests the power of global brands like Nike and Louis Vuitton. His dose of ghetto swagger keeps women central in his projects. Hajjaj creates chic, vivacious images that are a riot of streetwise energy and colour. “I hope my work talks for me – and I want it to appeal to everyone, whether they’re a cleaner or an art critic,” he says. hassanhajjaj.blogspot.co.uk Photograph Janette Beckman Words Paul Bradshaw
Allen Toussaint
Born, bred and buttered in New Orleans, Allen Toussaint began his recording career in the 1950s mentored by Professor Longhair. When Longhair died in 1980, Toussaint inherited his mantle as the Crescent City’s chief musical elder statesman. As hit songwriter, pianist or arranger he has worked with practically every major southern-soul and New Orleans funk artist of note, including the Meters, Art and Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, Dr John, Etta James, Ernie K-Doe, Lowell George, and the Wild Tchoupitoulas. Toussaint spends most of his time in the studio, but was in London recently to perform at Ronnie Scott’s. Until 2005, Toussaint’s huge body of work as a songwriter was created without one collaboration. He wrote everything, words and music. “I never thought about that before,” he says. “But yes, I just sat down and wrote. When it’s time, you write. Even when it’s not time, you write.” At a Hurricane Katrina benefit concert in 2005, Toussaint shared the bill with Elvis Costello, for whom he’d written some arrangements in 1988. The pair teamed up two months later, co-wrote five tracks and made an album, The River in Reverse. “Sometimes,” says Toussaint, “you can teach an old dog new tricks.” allentoussaint.com Photograph Elliot Kennedy Words Chris May
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