A Free Lunch.
I arranged to go and see this mosaic again and meet the arts development officer for lunch. I wanted to take photos of the mosaic in a finished context.
When I got to the mosaic there were two middle aged women standing on it. They reminded me of ‘Patsey’ in Ab Fab, kind of professional shoppers with lunch at Harvey Nick’s darling.
They were pointing at the images and talking to each other. I heard one say ‘and look there’s a shepherd over there’. They were pooling their knowladge together and trying to understand what they looking at. I really wanted a photo of them, so I walked past them and stood away to the side in the corner. My army surplus cammoflage jacket I was wearing did not hide me into my suroundings, which I thought they were designed to do? As I started to take my camera out of it’s little case they got wind and scarpered.
Anyway….over a free lunch I learned everything had gone very well while I was in Crete and images, council websites, plaques, films and stuff all hunkey dorey. But the best storey was about one of the councilors who had been on the steering commitee for this project, not just the art but the whole shops, houses, play ground, cinema car park thing. He was almost anti art and paid little attention to it. His views were, art was a hobby and had no place in the world of economics and commerce. No place in the public realm, and had very vocally played down its role, and made it a little difficult for council officers to make agreements and commitments to the commissioned artworks etc.
This counciler apparently walked into the arts development officers office and said, he had changed his mind about art and had got it now. And he could see what it could do.
This must have been quite thing for him to do as he had been very forthright in all the meetings I had gone to. So for me a a great ending.
I still can’t tell you what is important about history. But I hope I have shown you, it is important.
