April 21st we took TOTU to The Corn Exchange
Theatre in Newbury. Ably assisted by two lovely theatre technicians as well as
the ever-supportive Hugh and Steve we succeeded in building the Extravaganza in
record time – a mere 6 hours.
It looked fantastic in the theatrical space. Set in the
auditorium itself – the seats having all been cleverly folded away – it was
stage lit for the first time on the outside as well as the inside. The result
was really dramatic – the Extravaganza looked like a bright paper lantern
floating in the darkness.
Another new variation from previous exhibitions was the
Sewing Sounds Symphony, playing on large auditorium speakers, greeted visitors
coming into the auditorium creating a lovely and evocative ambience. One male
visitor said the sounds took him immediately back to his youth and his mother’s
sewing activities. The Symphony really set the scene beautifully.
Some of the visitors were returning for a second, more
considered look having seen us amid the bustle of Ally Pally last year. They
appreciated the leisure and calm of this venue which gave them time to really
examine and explore the work.
One of the most amazing incidents of the show was when one
American Unfinishable contributor, Paulette Hayes, walked in with her husband. They
were en route from the USA to Australia and had made a special detour in
England to come and see us! Paulette had sent us the very moving embroidered
foetuses which feature in our book as well as taking their place on the
Extravaganza. Many visitors had admired the courage with which Paulette had
told her Unfinishable story and quite a few felt an emotional resonance with
it. It was a great thrill to meet and talk to her in person. What is more she
had brought with her a most beautiful quilted piece which was the final
resolution of what she had been trying to express with the initial Unfinishable
foetuses. It was stunning and a privilege to see. It also strongly illustrated
the point that Unfinishables can be necessary stepping stones and shouldn’t automatically
be connected with feelings of failure.
The Newbury Touch to See group, a very lively, visually
impaired crowd, to whom we had previously given a talk on the Unfinishable
Project, happened to be visiting the exhibition at the same time and were
delighted to engage with an actual contributing artist, her work and her story.
Paulette was very generous with her time with them. It was a very emotional and
quite electric event.
Alongside the TOTU exhibit, in the theatre foyer, was an accompanying exhibition showing the amazing outcomes of
an outreach project on related themes. This had been organised by the Corn
Exchange under the capable aegis of Sarah Gregson along with ourselves, and
supported by Jackie Gray of West Berks Council who was interested in using TOTU
as the stimulus to promote ‘inter-generational
conversation’ through craft activities.
The outreach project starting point was an ‘Inspire’ event,
held earlier in the year at which we had given a presentation about various
themes arising from TOTU which could be developed further to a gathering of
interested groups. The groups were given inspirational packs to take away and
were put in pairings to work together:
Mary Hare School – with Corn Exchange Theatre Stewards
Newbury Embroiderers Guild
with Trinity Trinkets School Art Club
The West Berks Home Schooling
Group – parents working alongside their children instead of
teaching them
teaching them
Each pairing then worked with a newly-taught craft of their own
choice and a craftsperson to realize their ideas around one of the Unfinishable
themes. These ranged from sharing the making process to the personal
significance of insignificant objects. The outcomes exhibition made a lively
addition to the TOTU experience and was intriguing for us to see how our initial
concepts had taken on new lives of their own.
Justyna Agacka, a local contributor, with her mother's embroidered tablecloth
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