What kind of a year has 2012 been for you and your organisation?
For me personally it has been a year of reflecting on life, death and relationships, especially after losing my father Morris at the end of 2011. Some milestones this year included seeing my eldest child Saskia off to ’big school’, and celebrating my wife Gina Czarnecki’s major retrospective exhibition at the Bluecoat gallery. For FACT, it has been a year of consolidation – taking stock of the good and the not so good, and making the most of the brilliant. Preparations are now underway for Turning FACT Inside Out, an exciting programme including an exhibition, major events, and symposium which will be keeping us busy through to summer, as part of us marking the tenth birthday of our building which officially opened February 23, 2003.
What has changed for the better and what, if anything, has changed for the worse?
A heightened awareness of time, which cuts both ways. Having fewer resources to work with (this also includes time, both personally and organisationally) results in an awareness of the need to be more effective and take more pleasure in life.
What do you wish hadn’t happened this year?
The end of my love affair and obsession with the internal combustion engine and vehicles propelled by such through time and space – then again, I think I’m glad of that really. I also had my passport, driving license, laptop, and Triumph Tiger 1050 stolen in two separate incidents.
What do you wish had happened this year, but didn’t?
An end to arts cuts. I’ve witnessed so many of my friends and colleagues suffer anxiety waiting for news of their livelihoods, as various agencies (especially Arts Council England) went through a prolonged period of change as a result of cuts.
What would you characterise as your/your organisation’s major achievement this year?
We have continued to support artists to experiment and make exciting, risky work – an example being our summer exhibition The Humble Market, which was a complex partnership of commissioners and artists as part of the Cultural Olympiad; it pushed everybody’s boundaries in production and presentation.
Is there anything you’d have liked to done but haven’t?
Riding a Triumph Tiger 1050 to France – although on the positive side, the trip instead turned out to be a proper family summer holiday, swimming and kayaking in the river every day with kingfishers and trout in harmony!
What would make 2013 a better year than 2012?
1. Less turbulence – or rather, further acceptance that everything is in flux and that stability is only an illusion.
2. More reading.
3. More humour.
