Beheld exhibit
Something slightly disturbing lurks in the dark at the University of Greenwich.
The north corridor of the university’s Queen Anne building is adjacent to the Thames, and cold. Inside the lights are dimmed, leaving only the shimmer of 10 shallow white bowls, each about 16 inches in diameter.
The bowls sit on plinths and form a single column reaching further in to the corridor. Above each is a projector, beaming in to the bowls an image of the places where 10 stowaways died, plunging out of the undercarriages of airplanes.
Lifting the bowls triggers an audio track recorded by artist Graeme Miller at the locations depicted. You can also “feel” the sounds through the bowl. It all makes for a slightly unsettling experience.
The piece is called Beheld and is part of Milestone, an exhibition which spans two locations – Greenwich and Holborn – and uses journeying as a metaphor to examine the relevance of the issues raised by Macpherson Report into the police handling of the Stephen Lawrence case, 10 years on from its publication.
Gallery Curator David Waterworth says: “There are also 10 blank bowls in the crypt at St Andrew’s, Holborn, representing places Graeme hasn’t visited yet. They represent Beheld being an ongoing project because these are just 10 people’s lives out of a continuing problem.”
Milestone runs until Thursday 15 October. For further information please contact David Waterworth on 020 8331 8260 or email D.M.Waterworth@gre.ac.uk
Ends
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Macpherson Report
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2009/jul/uk-hasc-macpherson.pdf
The Macpherson Report was published on February 24 1999 and was the culmination of a Judicial Inquiry into the killing of Stephen Lawrence. Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death at a bus stop in Eltham, Greenwich on April 22, 1993. The ensuing police investigation into the case was found by the Inquiry to be “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers.”(Home Office, The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: Report of an Inquiry by Sir William Macpherson of Cluny, Cm 4262–I, February 1999, para 46.1). Significantly the Report established the concept of institutional racism within the criminal justice system.
The Stephen Lawrence Gallery
http://www.gre.ac.uk/pr/slg
The Stephen Lawrence Gallery was established by the university in 2000 to provide a showcase for the work of contemporary artists and to promote cultural diversity in the visual arts. The gallery stages ten or so exhibitions a year and covers a variety of media, from photography and video projections to sculpture. The Stephen Lawrence Gallery aims, through its programme, to enable people of different viewpoints and backgrounds to encounter, explore, test and question the practice of artists in an informed and confident way.
St Andrew Holborn
www.standrewholborn.org.uk
St. Andrew Holborn is a Guild Church dedicated to the working population of the surrounding area. Following the great fire of London, in 1666, the medieval church of St Andrew's was rebuilt by Christopher Wren. He built the Crypt, which is the site of this exhibition, and it is his largest parish church. The Milestone exhibition forms part of St Andrew Holborn's City Harvest festival celebrating transformation and healing.http://www.standrewholborn.org.uk/documents/CityHarvestWedFlyer.pdf
Venues:
The Stephen Lawrence Gallery
University of Greenwich
Park Row
London SE10 9LS
St Andrews Holborn
Holborn Viaduct
London EC4A3AB
for enquiries:
5 St Andrew Street
London EC4A 3AB
Exhibition Dates: From now until October 15, 2009
For images or more information please contact:
Neil McKeown, Public Relations
University of Greenwich
Tel: 020 8331 9420