Fly with me

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Art by Ruth Hartley, Books by Ruth Hartley, Displacement, Installations, Migration, Refugee, When We Were Wicked2 Comments

We have a wonderful red Chinese kite that we bought in Shanghai in 2007. It’s a giant squid that flies with beautiful ease, but needs both space and wind. Here in our village we have space, but not much wind. That’s changing with the climate. The wind we get now is gusty, dusty and inconstant. In Zambia I would see […]

The Godfrey Setti Retrospective Exhibition at Lechwe Trust Art Gallery: Art Lives on III

Ruth HartleyArt by Ruth Hartley7 Comments

Godfrey Setti In 1984 Godfrey Setti asked me if he could exhibit his paintings at Mpapa Gallery. I remember that occasion so well. Godfrey was a gentle and charming young 26-year-old and I had just begun work as manager and was finding out exactly what that entailed. We were both facing new experiences, though coincidentally we had each just completed […]

I’ve got something MORE to Say!

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Art by Ruth Hartley, Dust and RainLeave a Comment

It was Sunday 26th June. The weather was miserable but the day was both interesting and enjoyable. John and I went to the launch of the second Women’s Voices anthology in the delightful village of Ponsan Soubiran in the Gers. The anthology’s theme is Transition and its title is I’ve got something MORE to Say! It is available on Amazon […]

The fateful story of becoming the author of books

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Hamera and Hartley, Writing Process, Zambia4 Comments

No simple way to become a writer It’s never simply a question of sitting down to write a story. First, you need money, food, a room of your own and time alone.  If any writers have all those things without also having paid employment, I haven’t met them yet. You also need to learn your craft, to practise it and […]

Elles sont tombées

Ruth HartleyEducation, Feminism, m’Other Art4 Comments

The fall of Kabul to the Taliban has filled me with despair for the future and hopes of women there and for women everywhere. I felt driven to once again show the paintings I made about the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre together with my installation about women. It is on show in the Foyer Rural in Labatut-Riviere […]