Hayward Bound
I managed to get to the Arts Council’s reception this week for a very brief period. Christopher Frayling and Peter Hewitt, respectively chairman and chief executive, launched a glossy report with ten year policies at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank - incidentally an unfriendly place to visit if you are a Cameroon on a bike. As well as an impressive video, there was an installation - “of all the people in all the world” - by Stan’s Cafe which was, well, brilliant really. It was witty, poignant, quirky and thought provoking all at the same time. They use grains of rice to illustrate statistics. A large mound, representing those who die crossing the Mexican/American border, appears next to a smaller mound representing those killed fleeing East Berlin, for example.
I don’t think it is too controversial to say that there has been some controversy at the Arts Council in recent years, with regular upheavals and a sense of constant revolution. It will be interesting to see if there is further change to come, or whether we will now see a period of prolonged stability.