I spent a part of the day up at the South Square Centre, where my exhibition is due to open during November. Normally the prospect of opening a new show would be exciting, but this occasion promises to be quite hair-raising.
The Centre is housed in a group of early 19th. century quarrymen’s cottages. This lends great character to the place, but presents considerable problems. For many years the place was actually owned by the local council which, because it was strapped for cash, spent nothing on its upkeep. Not long ago the Centre was passed to the custody of an independent group of Trustees, who set about raising a very large amount of money to put things to rights. An extremely capable and energetic administrator (Yvonne Carmichael) managed to secure grants sufficient to cover the costs of all the structural and safety-related work that needed doing, and work is due to begin during November. Now the bad news. The work is expected to be undertaken without closing the place down altogether. To get some idea of the ambition/folly of this, I should mention that the work will begin with the replacement of the roof.
This feat of administrative and technical agility will be brought about by the tenants engaging in a kind of dance, moving their operations between the available spaces in a complex rota. The gallery in which my exhibition would normally have taken place will become (I think) the temporary workshop of a picture-framer. We will move into another gallery and the cafe, the latter remaining in its present location, although the other gallery (the Patricia Calver Gallery) will have a temporary furlough (to use a currently fashionable term.) I’ve lost track of the complicated rigmarole of movements that will take place during the next six months, but you get the general idea.
The best image I can come up with, to convey the character of this experience, is that it will be like serving cocktails (civilised and refined) while digging potatoes (rustic, muddy and very basic.) The constant state of mobility that will govern the process can be conveyed by the idea that these two activities have to be undertaken on roller-skates. My mind is already boggling!