The Public Gallery, the world’s only entirely participatory arts space, opens this weekend in West Bromwich with a free programme of events to mark this long-awaited occasion.
Will Alsop’s controversial metal building with ‘jelly bean’ windows, The Public, is home for this new gallery space – and space it is, with no vertical walls, lots of precipitous drops, floating floors and few traditional definitions of what a gallery should be or what it should house.
The weekend will see The Public host theatre by The Elvis Cleaning Company, live music and children’s activities. Visitors can travel to the gallery by tuk-tuk from the bus station to be greeted by a giant aluminium whale basking in the sun outside this innovative building.
The opening exhibition premieres international documentary artist, Esther Sahlev-Gerz’s record of West Bromwich residents answering her question, “What Story Must Be Told Today?” This is the fourth in her series of films entitled Les Portraits des Histoires.
Specially commissioned permanent exhibits are also on show. These question - and hope to answer - what this vast project beset by debate about function and usage intends to achieve.
Focused around the use of technology to bring new dimensions to cultural experience, these Public commissions include Trees by Ben Kelly, of Hacienda and Factory Records fame, and virtual flower beds in drawers that whisper secrets, entitled Flower of My Secret by Usman Haque.
As Sally Luton, Regional Executive Director of Arts Council England, West Midlands says: “The Public Gallery will house world-class commissions by artists of international standing, which will not be seen anywhere else in this country.”
The Public is conceived of as a community arts space, and how people interact with what is on show is turned into a function of the gallery itself. Visitors can store data via electronic ID tags to chart personal journeys through The Public’s spaces. They can then use this information in Make, a series of creative activities allowing visitors to make and take away their own piece of Public inspired art.
This latter activity is closest to the dream that began The Public when Sylvia King establishing the Jubilee Arts Trust in 1974. Fifty three million pounds later, the seed that germinated on an art project bus driven around West Bromwich has found its home in these imaginative and provocative spaces.
Visitors are also being encouraged to use the space actively in a mission to bring young audiences to encounter art in new ways. Sally Luton champions this: “People’s engagement with the arts is changing rapidly – young people in particular increasingly want to be able to interact with the arts so we need new types of spaces and buildings to offer these opportunities.”
Opportunities to interact include Blast Theory’s FlyPad computer game for up to 11 players. Creative technology is also central visitor information – the guide to the building comes as a 15-metre cascade of data – Datafall by Lia and Miguel Carvalhais. Surveillance with a twist devised by LA based Marie Sester, means visitors engage with strangers and, rather than spotting them up to no good, can focus on them and send them secret messages.
With the groundbreaking interior being filled with the accessible and interactive art the project was initiated by, Will Alsop’s building has already become a landmark in an area where a total of £700 million will eventually be spent on regeneration. It is funded by The Arts Council, Advantage West Midlands, the European Development Fund and with additional Lottery funding. This ambitious part of the wider regeneration project aims to draw 100,000 people a year to the Sandwell area of the town.
Marlene Smith, gallery director, says this will involve gaining the attention of “audiences who do not normally attend art galleries”. In reaching out to these new audiences, The Public’s education programme has already begun with collaborations with over 100 local schools.
Despite the long anticipation for the opening, we will still have to wait to see what The Public can achieve. Margaret Hodge, Minister for Culture, is optimistic that it will succeed as its mission becomes more focused and evolved: “With its mixture of iconic architecture, inspirational programming and interactivity, it chimes exactly with the way the arts in the 21st century are going. It will act as a trailblazer for regeneration in the area and will place West Bromwich at the forefront of this country’s brilliant cultural scene.”
The free festival programme runs from Saturday 28 to Sunday June 29. The Public Gallery’s opening hours will then be 10 – 6 Tuesday to Saturday and 10 – 5 on Sundays. During the first three weeks after it opens, admission will be free but booking is essential on 0845 521 1929. After that, entry will be £6.95 for adults, £4.95 for children and other concessions with family tickets available at £20.
