‘It is with very deep regret that the Trustees announce that KUBE will close from 31st January 2010 and Abi Kremer’s exhibition, ‘Colour & Inspiration: Paintings 1979 – 2009′, will be the last in this building’
This is the email, entitled ‘Sad News’ that dropped in my hotmail earlier today from Kube gallery (formerly known as The Study Gallery, Poole). It is not the first gallery to close in and around this area of the SouthWest but is probably the most significant. Kube has a strong reputation for involving the general public from an innovative interactive exhibiting programme to participatory opportunities both within the gallery and reaching out to the wider community.
Kube has shown work by established names such as Antony Gormley, Tracey Emin, Micheal Kenny, Mark Wallinger, Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas whilst also providing one of the painfully few platforms in the area for local and regional artists to share work. Among it’s other accomplishments literally thousands of schools, pupils and young people have visited the Gallery over the years, not to mention the college students that have rubbed shoulders with the Henry Moores, Barbara Hepworths and Jacob Epsteins of the college art collection which they housed and cared for. Rosalind was right, I do have fire in my belly when it comes to losses such as this. My work has brought me into all areas of participatory work, and I’m quite happy to defend the role of ‘the dreaded community artist‘ as one curator referred to it in a previous a-n article because I have seen first hand how, when we get it right, peoples lives are enriched and invigorated when they are brought together in this way.
Kube assures us they will find an alternative way to move forward. Hopefully this squeeze will only serve to produce some truly innovative and exciting initiatives to emerge. It is only, after all, what the community and the children of this community deserve.
