The box of work had arrived safely; however, we had unfortunately each put a nominal value of £100 on our work for the commercial invoice and this meant we incurred a £100 surcharge at customs to add to the already hefty carriage costs. Meetings in windowless, oppressive rooms were the order of the day.
Still we had the work, the space was clear, and what a space it was.
Maya Darcha, from The British Council, was invaluable organising and translating and had found us two volunteers to unpack and help install, they would also be taking down and repacking the work in our absence.
As my plinths were still being manufactured, the emphasis over the first few days was on unpacking and installing Lois Williams 2 pieces From a Distance, and Enquire Within Upon Everything once we had overcome initial resistance from the Academy to allowing us to pin the work to the wall. Facilities at the Academy were meagre but we managed to track down spirit levels, hammers, pins and the rest of the paraphernalia that we would take for granted in an exhibition space in the UK.
With some careful explanation of what was required Luka, Keti and Emee set to installing the grid of 256 drawings that made up Enquire Within, and Lois, Martin and myself began work on From a Distance.
Continues…
