The UK’s first publicly funded art gallery dedicated to culturally diverse and international perspectives in the visual arts was launched on October 3 2007.
Rivington Place, in east central London, was opened by Professor Stuart Hall, Chair of inIVA, along with Sebastian Lopez, Director of Rivington Place and Mark Sealy, director of photography association Autograph ABP.
"You can tell from the smiles on our faces how pleased we are to be welcoming you all today," said Hall, the respected critic and theorist about black British culture. "We want to open a window to those outside working internationally who normally don't get shown in London. It's been almost a decade in the making - a lot of conversations, a lot of goals, a lot of people helping."
“Difference is complex – it alters and evolves, but does not go away,” commented Hall. “Difference matters and will continue to matter, it provides an incredible source of richness, new ways of seeing and creativity. Rivington Place is a landmark building which celebrates diversity and the exciting and essential contribution it makes to the visual arts.”
"London is the most multicultural city in the world," said former Arts Minister David Lammy, a man still very much committed to cultural first principles. "To have a dedicated space which is in perpetual discussion about these issues is great. At the heart of all the conversations about race and new communities in London is culture," said Mr Lammy, talking to 24 Hour Museum at the inIVA launch.
The £8m building, by architect David Adjaye OBE, is the first new-build public gallery in the capital since the Hayward Gallery opened in 1968. It has been funded by Arts Council England (£5.9m) and corporate partner Barclays (£1.1m).
Its aim is to be a permanent base for showcasing work from differing cultural perspectives with a changing exhibition programme, events and education and community initiatives.
The gallery opens to the public on October 5 2007, with its first exhibition, London is the Place for Me (running until November 24 2007).
The exhibition features photography and film looking at both the Windrush generation who immigrated here from the Caribbean in the mid 20th century, and contemporary arrivals from all over the world.
"It's a building that appears to increase its volume, from one end of the site to another - the geometry is adjusting, its form compressed," said architect David Adjaye. "It's about how you look, and then how you find something, and how that something is not as you first thought."
The building includes a glass fronted ground floor gallery space, the Barclays Project Space, another exhibition space with flexible seating for showing film and video work, and an education space.
It also houses the Stuart Hall Library, a resource for studying international perspectives in visual arts and photography containing a collection of monographs, exhibition catalogues and 80 current art periodicals.
The library is already in use and attracts enquiries from all over the world. As well as published work, there is an extensive collection of 'grey' literature such as theses, unpublished manuscripts and more.
Also found in the library is the digital resource area - though Sebastian Lopez, Director of Rivington Place, was keen to point out that digital activity permeates the whole building.
“This project is not just about bricks and mortar, it represents a modest but important destination,” said Mark Sealy.
“It will be a home for the work inIVA and Autograph ABP have been doing collectively for over 20 years and will provide a sense of place for the artists and issues we champion. It is also a strategic shift towards greater certainty and greater autonomy for both the organisations.”
Autograph ABP is a non-profit making photographic arts agency that addresses issues relating to cultural identity, social change and human rights. inIVA is a contemporary visual arts agency that supports artists, curators and scholars from diverse cultural backgrounds.
“It is an honour to be joining inIVA at this exciting new moment,” said Sebastian Lopez, Director of inIVA. “Rivington Pace will provide an important window – an identifiable and tangible space where audiences of all kinds will be able to discover the international perspectives in the visual arts that both inIVA and Autograph ABP have championed for so long."
“We want to inject new ideas and energy. We want to challenge a cultural climate in which diversity can be presented as a carnival of exotic names and where the issues that really matter are often put aside.”
Exhibitions planned for 2008 include an examination of Cuban art and a photographic review of the Bangladesh atrocities of 1971 – especially pertinent to the local Bangladeshi community of East London.
Institute of International Visual Arts , 6-8 Standard Place, Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3BE, England
T: 020 7729 9616
Open: 9.30 - 17.30, Mon - Fri
