Paintings by Khadija Khan (left) and Jane Runchman (right)

It takes two artists to tango

On Sunday 1 March artists Khadija Khan and Jane Runchman have a pop-up show at Stade Hall. Erica Smith asked them why they decided to hang a show for one day only.

Both Khadija Khan and Jane Runchman are craftspeople who have turned to art relatively recently. Jane is a long established jeweller who hung up her silver hammers in favour of painting jewel-like canvases. Eighteen months ago crafts-woman Khadija began producing stunning, abstract landscapes as a way of coming to terms with the sad and sudden death of her partner, Brad Gross.

At around the same time that Jane began to paint, she also started tango lessons. She found that, like painting, tango was totally engaging for the mind, body and soul – “Tango dancing is a conversation. It is always improvised – so you have to be absolutely present – like a meditation”.

Peter Varley, her tango tutor began to host tea dances at the Stade Hall. Jane felt that it would be much more atmospheric if there were beautiful paintings to look at as the dancers moved around the room and asked Khadija if she would be happy to share the walls for a flash exhibition. The luminescent canvasses will look spectacular set against the black wooden walls of Stade Hall.

Out of the Dark is on show on Sunday 1 March from 10.30am to 1.30pm at Stade Hall, 20 Rock-A-Nore Rd, Hastings TN34 3DW.
No admission fee

The Stade Tango Tea Dance runs from 3–9pm in the same venue and costs £10.00.

You can also see the artists’ work on Instagram:
Khadija Khan
Jane Runchman

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