Edge of Arabia gallery in London will launch in late November its latest group endeavour, entitled Never Never Land, possibly the latest take on J M Barrie’s fictional works of the early 20th century.
The group show at the gallery, which calls itself EOA.Projects, is to feature the work of Arwa Alneami, Abdullah al Mutairi, Monira Al Qadiri, Foundland, Ahmed Mater and Shaweesh & Neenoism.
The exhibition will run from 29 November 2014 to 17 January 2015.
Barrie’s work as well as earlier usages of the phrase continue to inspire artists worldwide and encourage new interpretations not only because of the magnetic pull of the phrase but also because of the original content.
The original ‘Neverland’ of the Scottish writer’s work is a fictional place where dwell Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys among other characters.
Although not all people in ‘Neverland’ cease to age, its best known resident famously refuses to grow up and over the years has become a metaphor for eternal childhood, immortality, even escapism. It was first introduced as “the Never Never Land” in a theatrical production called Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.
In his 1911 novel version Peter and Wendy, Barrie (1860-1937) refers to ‘the Neverland,’ and its many variations including ‘the Neverlands.’ In the earliest drafts of Barrie’s play, the island was called ‘Peter’s Never Never Never Land,’ a name possibly influenced by a contemporary term for outback Australia in those years of European settlement of the Aboriginal native territory.
Most interpretations, though not always positive, see ‘never never land’ as a Utopian dreamland — which opens up endless possibilities for artists.
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