Fire Poem by Robert Montgomery
28th March to 7th April, 2024
During Easter, JOALI Maldives will welcome internationaly acclaimed guest artists, including Robert Montomery, the renowned British contemporary artist. Visiting JOALI on the heels of his work being recently showcased in the Musée du Louvre exhibition, La Suite de l’Histoire, Montgomery hones in on the island’s devotion to the arts to lead a fire poem performance on one very special night.
This remarkable event is part of a bouquet of creative Easter experiences at the art-immersive resort. Designed around the theme of “Together We Blossom”, the festivities offer a joyful expression of togetherness and renewal in full bloom.
Along with Montgomery, JOALI Maldives will host famed British poet, actress and filmmaker Greta Bellamacina for the Easter celebrations. During her visit, Bellamacina will layer the art of poetry into guests’ island journeys.
About Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery is known for creating billboard poems, light works, fire poems, woodcuts, paintings and watercolours. His work brings text art closer to the language of poetry. He represented the UK in the 2012 Kochi Biennale and the 2016 Yinchuan Biennale.
Montgomery’s work can be found in collections across the world, including at the Albright Knox Museum in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. He has had solo museum projects at the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado, Oklahoma Contemporary in Oklahoma City, and Cer Modern Museum in Ankara. His work was recently featured in La Suite de l’Histoire, the first exhibition of contemporary sculpture at Musée du Louvre in Paris. His work is hugely popular on the Internet; the piece “The People You Love Become Ghosts Inside of You” has been shared online more than 200 million times.
Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine says about Robert Montgomery: “The poems he composes suggest a steady faith that humanity can heal the ecological and emotional trauma of our times, with a lyricism that recalls poets like Philip Larkin and Sylvia Plath…. Montgomery’s art has graced the cityscapes of Paris, Berlin, and London, where he is based. His first solo exhibition in New York opened…at C24 Gallery…. Walking in the entrance with blaring words of lights ahead and on either side felt like entering a cathedral.” (Rachel Small, Interview magazine)