On Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July, you can be one of Obama’s People by deciding on what would be your post in his administration team and coming in to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to have your portrait made. Richard Battye will be behind the lens and your images will be emailed to you. We are hoping that people will get very imaginative – for example: Director of Gardening, Head of Magic – whatever is your interest. Of course bring your props – By appointment only. Ring Rhubarb-Rhubarb on 0121 773 7889 for a ten minute slot. Maximum 3 people in a photo.
Birmingham has a new Cabinet member of the Council for Culture – Cllr Martin Mullaney from the Lib Dems, who began his post this Monday, 18 May 2009. So on Wednesday, we met at the Museum and Art Gallery and I took him round the show. So far the project has raised almost £100k in PR for the City of Birmingham, BMAG, all the sponsors, Rhubarb and Flowers and of course Nadav… Not bad for a project done in record time on the smallest imaginable amount of money and a group of supporters who generously gave time and services. And so far, in circulation figures, the newspapers and magazines its been published in have gone to six million people…. Never mind the internet….
Cllr Mullaney is an interesting fish. He runs a comedy club, rides a Lambretta, owns a Parka and has set up a club for young people who are tagged and use grafitti as a form of communication. More, he listens to what people are telling him. So what way will the arts go now, in terms of what is and isn’t supported by the Council. Watch this space and other Birmingham blogs for more on what he’s up to.
As Lorna-Mary was missing her plane, I was firstly the gallery guide for some of the students visiting the show before attending the talk, and then transformed myself into saleswoman for last minute ticket buyers, whilst having fascinating conversations with gallery visitors. Matthew Flowers saved me and we set up a laptop in the reception of the Art School at BIAD, in Margaret Street, to look at the work of some upcoming and potentially huge talented photographers from the West Midlands. Whilst directing people to the toilets and the cafe…. Nadav, Zoe and Ed our intern, who had made the rather wonderful slide show for the talk, began transforming the lecture theatre into a stills cinema, all dark and mysterious, where the audience could see us but we couldn’t see them, only able to see one another. So for two rather wonderful hours, we just sat and talked our way through Nadav’s early years, his incredible portraits, self generated projects – which I called Quiet and Unease, and of course the Obama series. Since we have had a couple of requests to do it again in other parts of the country…. On that day Ed and I said goodbye to Zoe and Nadav at the station and set off for refreshments at Eat. It was a bit of a sad moment for us all, but we know that this is only the beginning of a relationship which will continue forever.
Of course, it had to happen. The post reception party at Must in Newhall Street was enjoyed by all, with amazing Dim Sum and the biggest wine glasses in the world. All that adrenalin and energy, mixed up with the rather wonderful wine, saw some pretty extraordinary sights as people got a bit fuzzy around the edges. But also some quite extraordinary conversations took place as the Brummies met the Londoners and enchanted one another. Some people said amazing things about the project – Francis Hodgson, Art Critic for the Financial Times, told us that the show was one of the most significant of the decade…. We left as the effects of the combined stimuli became obvious, and as Lorna-Mary had to get a plan to Krakow at 5 am the next morning, which of course she missed….. The party continued at the Radisson until the early hours and everyone but everyone was destined for some kind of hangover the next day…. Just in time for the In Conversation event….
Around a hundred people gathered together with the Obama portraits at the Artists Reception for Nadav on Thursday 14 May. I can honestly say that everyone was smiling for most of the time and I have never before enjoyed such generosity of spirit between so many different people. Lorna-Mary hosted Cllr Ray Hassall and Director of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery – Rita McLean, for their welcoming speeches. I had the honour of introducing Matthew Flowers and Nadav Kander and then I went on for a bit about the collective will behind this project. More than any other project I’ve ever worked on, there has been an enthusiastic and growing support from a broad range of people, all wishing us well. To be amidst that sort of energy has been the driving force behind the success of the show, which is packed out everyday, with people going into the Marketing Birmingham Information office at the Rotunda, asking for Obama flyers and the way to the Museum and Art Gallery. Everyday we have notes or calls about the show. The sponsors, partners and individual patrons were all there, along with all those people who willed this to happen. And my Mom and Dad, the Rhubarb, Flowers and Kander teams. It was magical. And then…..
Well we know that it has arrived as we sent it with some tracking device which allows you to follow its journey. So now of course we want to know where it is in the White House and who in fact has read it. Though it was addressed to Eugene Kang, we hope that by now its been read by President Obama and that soon we will have a reply…. Its still as exciting as when we sent it but of course we know he is busy so it could be months before that letter drops through the Rhubarb letterbox.
Dreadful I know but haven’t blogged since Nadav visited and berating myself for being slack. I now realise why its done on pretty much a daily basis as its hard now to remember all those small things that have happened since 9 May. Of course the bigger things will be developed in the following posts so that people following this blog can catch up with the latest on the things outstanding.
As if by magic, the arrival of Nadav and his wife Nicole, on Thursday 30 April, at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, coincided with the 100 days of Obama… It also coincided with a large group of students from Matthew Boulton, a photographer from the Birmingham Post, 40 schoolchildren and some foul weather. So we all found ourselves answering questions about the show and the portraits and then went out and dodged the rain as we all ran around the city, doing the things we had to do whilst Nadav was in town, stopping for some shopping at the Custard Factory and a lunch in two parts at the Ikon gallery. In the brief moment we had a ten minute break, on arriving back at BMAG to await BBC Asian Network, we all became briefly obsessed with imitating the portraits and did our own photoshoot, some of which will be revealed a little later in this story. We did of course, end the day with Nadav and Nicole, in a curry house on the Ladypool Road….
The verdict from Nadav was good, he enjoyed seeing his show, and his picture of him almost as Eugene Kang was published in the Birmingham Post on Friday 1st May. Watch for the same paper on Tuesday next, when Arts Editor Terry Grimley tells us what he thinks of Obama’s People….
Tomorrow Nadav and his wife Nicole will be visiting Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to see the show for the first time. Nadav was away in the USA on a big commission when we were installing. He also went, at a last minute request, to photograph… Barack Obama, for a new portrait which has today appeared on the cover of the New York Times… So the wheel continues.
So its up early tomorrow to get to the gallery and ensure its all looking wonderful and those people in the portraits haven’t had a cabinet reshuffle in the night… Would love to be there when its dark and see what they get up to.
We’ll be meeting the Director of BMAG, Rita McLean, and the team who helped so much with the project there. Then off to meet Ian Richards at Heavy Object, who did the wonderful graphics and is now working on a book of the portraits. On to the Ikon for lunch, a quick trip to Birmingham Repertory theatre to check out the venue for Nadav’s In Conversation on 15th May and then back to BMAG to meet the BBC Asian Network team, who are doing an interview with Nadav. After that, off to Must in Newhall Street, for some drinks to celebrate. Am excited and looking forward to meeting Nadav again and seeing and hearing what he thinks of his show.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon in the gallery, talking to the visitors about the show. People were there not only from the city and region, but throughout the few hours I was there, I met up with three people from the USA, five from France, seven from Japan, four from Greece, two from Finland (who said this was one of the most interesting things they had seen on their visit to the UK) and individuals from Somalia, Jamaica, Spain, China and Indonesia…. One woman and her husband had heard the Front Row Radio 4 interview with Nadav and driven from the middle of Wales to see the show.
Not only are people interested in Obama’s People, but with the other exhibitions in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. It is a mine of extraordinary art, whether its in the permanent collection or a touring show. People go to visit for the day, all comment on the warmth they feel from the staff in the Museum – its wonderful to know that we have this place for art which so many people worship. So we’re feeling really proud to have Obama’s People at BMAG – it really is the perfect venue.
