British Museum blog

December 7, 2011 • 5:29 pm 1

Stunt double trouble


Janet Larkin, Curator of the Enlightenment Gallery

I’ve had an exciting time these last few months managing the installation of the objects for Grayson Perry’s exhibition. As part of this, I have also been tasked with changing the stunt double teddy bears on the back of Grayson motorbike, which you can see on display just outside the exhibition entrance. I usually work in the Department of Coins and Medals and look after the Enlightenment Gallery, and so getting up close to this fantastic motorbike is a real change for me!

Hundreds of bears entered their CVs and photos for Grayson Perry’s competition to find a stunt double for Alan Measles, who is of course Grayson’s teddy bear and ‘god of his imaginary world’. Grayson shortlisted the candidates to find his top 12 and then the public voted for their three favourites. The final three reminded us of The Story of the Three Bears, there was “a Little, Small, Wee Bear” called Dr Schmoo, “a Middle-sized Bear” called Pinny, and “a Great, Huge Bear” called John Duggan.

Last week, early one morning before the Museum opened to the public, we tried John Duggan out for size by placing him in the shrine on the back of Grayson’s motorbike. Dressed up in his leathers and wearing a fantastically ornate eye patch, he really looked the part. However, John was slightly too tall for the shrine and so, very sadly, he won’t be able to take up his place as the stand-in for Alan Measles after all.

This is incredibly disappointing for John Duggan of course. He had so wanted to sit in the shrine and for all to come and see him. However, we know that he will take comfort in knowing that he has been an internet star with thousands of votes. He now even has his own Facebook page, so do go and make friends with him! He will certainly go on to have many more adventures I’m sure. Whilst he was here, and in true stunt teddy bear spirit, he did try out a few poses on the motorbike which we caught on camera and which he wanted you to see…

John Duggan prepares for a ride on Grayson Perry's motorbike

Displaying his fine balancing skills on the handlebars

Enjoying the scenery

Posing like a true stunt double

And so, we now need a stand-in for the stand-in! The next bear on the shortlist from the final stages of the competition will be contacted and asked to take John Duggan’s place. Keep an eye out (not literally, like John Duggan) on Twitter for the announcement of who that lucky bear will be.

You may have seen Pinny and Alan Measles on Harry Hill’s TV Burp. Pinny is thrilled to have been on television. Have you seen Pinny or Dr Schmoo on display yet? Dr Schmoo is proudly wearing his Grayson Perry badge, and I’ve even found him a cushion so that he can sit on that big throne much more comfortably.

Find out more about the Grayson Perry Late event.

Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman
is supported by AlixPartners, with Louis Vuitton.
Book tickets now

Filed under: Exhibitions, Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman

November 24, 2011 • 5:29 pm 9

Making connections


Philippa Perry, Grayson’s wife, on looking for connections in
the exhibition Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman

On the rare occasions when Grayson and I visit a shopping street together, his favourite place seems to be the charity shops. We go into one together and I look at everything and after about three minutes of finding nothing I long for fresh air and wait for him outside. He takes longer than me, he looks more carefully and comes out after a few more minutes with a rare book or a tweed jacket that somehow I managed to overlook. And when we take his finds back home it is as though we’ve always had them. They seem to have his handwriting on them.

Amulet with plaque, ‘Tsa Tsa’. Bronze and paper, Tibet, 1800–1899.
© The Trustees of the British Museum

When I saw his final selection from the British Museum this is what struck me. To me, it looked like the objects he chose could have been made by him – they had his personality already. It can be hard to know what he has made and what he has found until you look at the labels. For example, the tiny portable shrine he has chosen (Amulet with plaque, ‘Tsa Tsa’, Tibet 1800-99) reminds me of the one he made for the Tate gift shop in 2009 (Tate Modern Reliquary).

Grayson Perry (b. 1960), Tate Modern Reliquary. 2009.
© Grayson Perry, courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London.

I asked him if ‘Tsa Tsa’ influenced his Tate gift shop reliquary, but no, he found it after he had made the pendant. Both these items are in the exhibition but they are not placed obviously side by side. I like this, it means that we look and let our minds make the connection; it is not done for us. This is not an exhibition to be rushed through. The more you look the more connections you can make.

Grayson won’t necessarily make connections obvious: his pot ‘Grumpy old God’ is based on the Greek vases in the Museum but he has not included one from the Museum’s collection. He asks us in a label not to look too closely for meaning. When he was selecting, he did it intuitively and he invites us to look at his selection in that way. But not looking for meaning does not mean not looking and noticing how things feels for us.

I am reminded of what Alain de Botton once said, which was something like don’t go to Cambrey and look at where Proust lived with your eyes, but stay at home and look around you with Proust’s eyes. If Grayson can pull out this stuff from the collection which seems so resonant of him, his style and his meanings…if objects in the Museum replicates the ages before Grayson made things – stuff that he went on to make before seeing it – then we know that not only Grayson’s psyche is to be found in the British Museum, but all our psyches. We just have to take the time to look and have confidence in our personal reactions to what we see.

And I really mustn’t rush outside when we visit charity shops but stay awhile to see if I too can find myself in an object there.

Find out more about the Grayson Perry Late event.

Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman
is supported by AlixPartners, with Louis Vuitton.
Book tickets now

Filed under: Exhibitions, Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman

November 24, 2011 • 12:52 pm 0

Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina


Earlier this month, Altaf and Rashida went on Hajj.
Here, they recount some of the stages of Hajj.

Arafat
Altaf Abbas
Arafat is a flat valley surrounded by mountains of rocky terrain – a dry and barren the place where Muslim’s believe mankind will be gathered on the day of judgement. After our first failed attempt to see the Mount of Mercy where the Prophet Mohammed had given his last sermon, I left my wife in the tent and went out again. I walked for about a mile, climbed through a hole in a chain link fence, crossed a wide empty motorway and then climbed up a short steep hill not knowing where I was going…and there in front of me was the most beautiful site. I was looking down on the Mount of Mercy where millions of pilgrims were standing and praying. It was awe-inspiring.

Everybody was facing towards the ka’ba and standing with raised hands praying and crying, it was deeply moving. Even though three million people were with us, it felt like I was alone in worship. I felt good after shedding a few tears.

Rashida Abbas
We arrived at Arafat on the morning of 5 November, it was very hot and no air conditioned tents this time. We had to pour chilled water on ourselves to keep cool. The whole afternoon was spent doing supplication and prayers. We went out to search for the Mount of Mercy but due to the heat had to turn back and take refuge in ‘The Tea Garden’ which was a large airy tent. Everyone was totally engrossed in prayer and oblivious to others around them. The focus was on prayer, a very spiritual afternoon which I enjoyed and felt benefited my soul with spiritual healing.

Muzdalifah
Altaf Abbas
After Magrib prayers (sunset) we boarded the coaches once to go to Muzdalifah to spend the night out in the open. Twenty of us decided to walk the seven kilometres to Muzdalifah and meet up with our group in the open air camp, which turned out to be an adventure. The walk started of very pleasant along with hundreds of thousands of other people along pedestrian walkway No.15, which is as wide as the M25 motorway. After four hours of walking, just before we entered Muzdalifa, people started setting up camp on the walkway which caused a bottle neck and our group of 20 got dispersed into the crowd of millions. I tried in vain to look for the group and our organised camp but to no avail, so I spent the night with thousands of total strangers on the pavement. I found a small spot next to some railings, put my prayer mat down and went to sleep using my slippers as a pillow. Although there were millions of people, coaches and buses going past, I slept for a couple of hours. It was the sweetest sleep I have ever had, there was a tranquillity that blanketed all the chaos around me. It is hard to explain in words but it felt like I was by myself – lost but had inner peace and was at ease.

Rashida Abbas
Muzdalifah was not what I expected. We slept on open ground in between the motorway and mountains. Coaches were arriving well into the night constantly bringing pilgrims. As the coaches arrived they would beep their horns to announce their arrival – thousands of coaches! It was a strange experience trying to sleep out in the open under these conditions. There were strangers sleeping next to us from all over the world. I managed to snatch a few hours of broken sleep whenever I could. Before long, the call to prayer was announced.Everybody woke up did ablution and stood for prayer in neat orderly rows facing the ka’ba. Which is amazing to see, the rows formed so swiftly and then total silence as the prayers started in Arabic. I don’t think you will see this anywhere else in the world. The supplication continued until sunrise about an hour later, Muslims deep in worship of one God. I walked back to Mina, our permanent camp, in the early morning sun which took about two hours. It was a calm atmosphere with pleasant weather and a gentle breeze, I really enjoyed it.

Mina
Altaf Abbas

The next three nights were spent in Mina, a temporary tented city. On the first day when the rest of the Muslim world was celebrating Eid (I did think about our children spending Eid with their Grandma and Aunt in London), we had four religious rituals to carry out:

1. Stoning of Jamaraat (symbolic devil)
2. Shaving the head
3. Sacrifice of animal, usually a goat or a lamb
4. Tawaf – to circumambulate the ka’ba

In the afternoon, we left on foot to go to the Jamaraat with our group. Even though I had heard about this ritual many times, it was different to what I expected. I had heard that this place gets really busy, however I was amazed to see a modern building resembling a multi-storey car park with wide ramped access, traffic lights, one way systems and electronic signage which made it very easy for us to perform the stoning. The ancient symbolic stoning of the devil represents the moment when the Prophet Abraham was being distracted by the devil when commanded by Allah to sacrifice his most beloved possession; his only child. We threw seven small pebbles the size of chick peas – which are collected from Mina – at three walls, each one 30 metres long and 6 metres high.

After the stoning we walked back to Mina. I had to shave my hair, have a shower and change out of my ihram and into clean normal clothes. I felt pure and cleansed.

The sacrifice of a goat was carried out remotely in a modern abattoir which has the meat cut, packed and shipped to third world countries to help feed the poor.

I’ll talk about the tawaf in my next post…

Altaf and Rashida Abbas went on Hajj this year and have been blogging about the experience for the British Museum. Find out more about the exhibition Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

Filed under: Exhibitions, Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

November 10, 2011 • 3:46 pm 0

Grayson Perry Late

Polly Wright and Francis Olvez-Wilshaw,
University of the Arts London students

For one night only, this Friday 11 November, we, the University of the Arts London, are exhibiting alongside Grayson Perry’s exhibition The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsmanas part of the Grayson Perry Late event at the British Museum.

I have been fortunate enough to sit on the committee of students helping to curate the event. From the written proposals to meeting my fellow students and artists, it has been an interesting journey, one of excitement, fun and insight… and we only have a few days to go!

I feel I am speaking on behalf of all involved when I say it is an exceptional experience to not only be exhibiting in the British Museum but also to be connected to the loved and respected Grayson Perry. This was apparent from the proposals we received as they were filled with enthusiastic appraisal for the British Museum as an institution and for Grayson’s work as an influential artist. Our students’ are committed to creating works suitable to communicate this inspiration. Now, in our final stages of preparation, I can already reflect upon what is a wide array of idiosyncratic ideas, across all mediums, which heightens my excitement for the night.

Meeting everyone behind the projects has been great. Whilst hearing these talented artists animatedly explaining their projects I have become more aware of the raw passion behind their work. I think this will be particularly apparent on the night. The night will be an exhibition of a wide array of interesting and colourful ideas created by a mixture of solo and collaborative works.

The performance piece Touching Death – A Wake has been a particularly interesting project to watch develop and to hear the extraordinary story behind its conception. The connections between the artists and the pure shock ability of the live wake of a real person on the night are bound to be a thought-provoking, public way of exploring death on a dramatically real level.

Showcasing 25 works, from fashion to craft, discos to pilgrimages, I can assure you that the night will be both thought-provoking and entertaining. I am personally excited to watch the space transform – we hope it will highlight aspects within the British Museum’s expansive collection as well as support Grayson Perry’s work.

I am going to leave you with a list of words the artists have used to sum up Grayson Perry: Technicolor, eccentric, genius, revolutionary, cocktail, hilarious, crackers… I hope this gets you excited! See you there!

Find out more about the Grayson Perry Late event.

Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman
is supported by AlixPartners, with Louis Vuitton.
Book tickets now

Filed under: Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman

November 7, 2011 • 10:57 am 2

Altaf’s Hajj: the tented city


Altaf Abbas

Friday 4 November
It has been a relaxing day today after the hardship of Mecca yesterday. We are staying in a tented city in Mina – there are thousands and thousands of air conditioned tents (Middle Eastern version of glamping) and we are preparing for tomorrow which will be very hard over three million people will be heading to Arafat to beg for forgiveness. I will be inshallah one of those and cannot wait to pour my heart out. I think it is going to be very emotional. I can feel the tears in my eyes already filling up.

The Saudis do an excellent job of servicing the hajjies. I am impressed at their efficiency, like the way they bring chilled water with ice to all tents and how they provide food, tea and coffee in abundance. They even have helicopters patrolling the hajj to make sure it goes smoothly and safely.

The call to prayer has just gone and it sends shivers down my spine as the sound reverbarates around the valley – it’s truly amazing.

Altaf and Rashida Abbas are going on Hajj this year. They will be blogging about their experience over the next two weeks. Find out more about the exhibition Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

Filed under: Exhibitions, Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

November 4, 2011 • 5:01 pm 1

Rashida’s Hajj: circling the Ka’ba


Rashida Abbas

Thursday 3 November
After our long journey we finally arrived at 3am in the grand mosque that surrounds the Ka’ba. The sheer number of people was overwhelmimg. There is nowhere to stand even though the mosque is enormous and goes on for miles. I struggled through the Tawaf (circling the Ka’ba) although I was a bit fazed due to lack of sleep and the crowds but I managed to complete it before collapsing in a heap to get some rest before the next part.

I leaned against one of the many marble clad minarets and gazed up at the sky above the Kabba where there was the most beautiful glow and tranquility which I had never felt anywhere else. It rejuvenated me to continue. As I looked down my husband was laying next to me snoring. I was feeling thirsty and hungry so I drank the water from the well of Zam Zam and was instantly refreshed. I can’t believe this well has been running since the time of Abraham, for me that is a miracle…

Altaf and Rashida Abbas are going on Hajj this year. They will be blogging about their experience over the next two weeks. Find out more about the exhibition Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

Filed under: Exhibitions, Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

November 2, 2011 • 2:37 pm 1

Altaf’s Hajj: departing and arriving


Altaf Abbas

Sunday 30 October
Up very early this morning at 4am to start the journey of a lifetime. I have got butterflies in my stomach, the whole family are at the front door to see us off – it was an emotional send off. The excitement is rising while we wait at the departure gate at Heathrow with 220 other potential hajjies who are sharing a common goal of doing Hajj. We landed in Medina on Sunday evening and as the plane touched down it felt real that we had landed in the holy city of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The whole disembarkment went very smoothly and swiftly and within a few hours we were in our hotel room.

Wednesday 2 November
We have spent the last few days in Medina which is a lovely calm place and the locals are very welcoming. This morning I made ablution and put on the ihram and boarded the bus on the long but emotional journey to Mecca where my eyes are longing to see the Kabba (the direction I pray in five times a day in London) and to see it real life is going to be overwhelming. My heart is thumping and my hands are shaking I can’t wait but have to ‘shabara’ (the Arabic word for patience) which the locals use continuously, as well as with ‘inshallah’.

Altaf and Rashida Abbas are going on Hajj this year. They will be blogging about their experience over the next two weeks. Find out more about the exhibition Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

Filed under: Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam

October 28, 2011 • 4:10 pm 5

Altaf’s Hajj: Preparation

Altaf Abbas and his wife Rashida are going on Hajj this year. They will be blogging about their experience over the next two weeks. For information about the exhibition Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam


Altaf Abbas
We are a married couple, Altaf and Rashida Abbas with three children. We live in Leyton, East London very near the Olympics. We were both born in East London and have been married for 22 years. Both our parents are from Pakistan and came to the UK in search of work in the late 1950s. I work as a Construction Project Manager on the new extension of the British Museum which is currently underway and my wife Rashida works in the local Muslim school. We are going to Hajj on 30 Oct 2011 inshallah (God willing).

We have been planning to go for a number of years but became serious and made the commitment last year after speaking to some friends who had made the journey and described how it was such an amazing feeling. It is also one of the five pillars of Islam, the other four are believing in one god, fasting in Ramadan, paying charity and establishing regular prayer (five times a day). We are travelling on a package deal which includes flights, transfers, hotel and a trained guide.

I thought it was going to be a complicated process, however it was very easy. We just paid our deposit, got our vaccinations and posted our passports to the travel agent to get the visa. Three weeks later we paid the balance and collected our documents, at which point it became a reality that we were on our way.

Altaf buying fabric

Altaf buying fabric

The preparation that I have done is mainly background reading and lots of discussion with family and friends about their personal Hajj experiences to gain any tips about what to expect and things that I will need. The only real item that I needed to buy was the ihram which is the two unstitched white sheets that the men have to wear which signifies the shroud that Muslims are buried in, thus during the 10 days of Hajj everyone is equal.


Rashida Abbas
I have been told that I will need a huge dose of patience! I have watched lots of Hajj videos on YouTube and I am still not sure what to expect, but I think I will be in awe when I see the Ka’ba (black cloth covered building). My preparation has been to train my mind to be strong and be prepared for any hardship or difficult situation due to the huge crowds. Physically I have been walking two miles each day for the last four weeks as we will be walking a lot and I want to be fit and ready for it.

I have so many mixed emotions running through my mind. I’m excited, happy, scared and anxious as I am not sure what to expect on the day. But I do know it will be a spiritually uplifting experience.

Filed under: Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam, ,

October 28, 2011 • 10:07 am 4

My artistic practice


Nicola Jarvis, artist and hand embroiderer,
Royal School of Needlework

Nicola Jarvis was one of the ‘unknown’ embroiderers who worked together to construct the lace for Kate Middleton’s wedding dress. In this guest blog post, she explores how anonymous craftspeoples’ identities can create a sense of mystery and magic.

My artistic practice is a work in progress that has been evolving ever since I could hold a pencil. During this journey, I trained as a hand embroiderer at the Royal School of Needlework in the early 1990s. Over the last two decades I have worked on numerous commissions for the Royal School and contracts for a multitude of companies and private individuals. Most of these jobs have involved making stitched items or artworks for which, after payment, I received no further acknowledgement for my craftsmanship. This has become the norm for me, and my colleagues working in the same industry.

To create a well-crafted object through an intimate relationship with the materials and process of making constitutes much of the job satisfaction.

The history of material culture is made up of hundreds of thousands of anonymous craftspeople that have made objects as a livelihood, to enable their survival and that of their families, with no thought of recognition for what they do.

'c17th Summer Sampler’, silk and gold thread (2011)

'c17th Summer Sampler’, silk and gold thread (2011)

I am currently in Delaware, USA, at the Winterthur Museum attending an international needlework conference where 230 delegates are examining and discussing the work of English and American embroiderers over the past 400 years. Some of the makers’ identities are known revealing fascinating stories of where, why and how their needlework was made. Others remain hidden and it is only through detailed study of their craftsmanship that we may construct our own narratives. I think this mystery creates much of the ‘magic’ that surrounds an object with a potent mix of unanswered questions and possibilities.

When I began my training at the Royal School of Needlework, it was the mastery of skills and process of making embroidery that was of utmost importance to me. When working the lace for the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, 20 years on, this was still the case.

I played a small part in a process that involved a large team of highly skilled needlewomen realising a very beautiful textile in the history of object making. Our stories and relationships are bound up in that dress, made with a commitment to, and a passion for, our craft. The individual and/or joint identities are not imperative, rather the collective energy and mastery of the materials and techniques is what will always be valued and celebrated.

Nicola’s embroidery short course at the Museum starting on Sunday 6 November is now fully booked, but take a look at other events in the Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman programme.

If you would like to leave a comment click on the title

Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman
is supported by AlixPartners, with Louis Vuitton.
Book tickets now

Filed under: Exhibitions, Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman, , , , , ,

October 27, 2011 • 4:57 pm 0

Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam


Venetia Porter, exhibition curator

Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam will tell the story of a remarkable religious phenomenon – the annual pilgrimage to the sacred city of Makkah (Mecca), the birthplace of Islam. This is the British Museum’s third exhibition in a series exploring the idea of spiritual journeys – following the ancient Egyptians’ journey through the afterlife and the Christian pilgrimages undertaken throughout medieval Europe.

The Ka'ba. AP/PA

The Ka'ba. AP/PA

The exhibition will focus on three main stories: the journey, the Hajj itself, and what it means to have performed Hajj. There will be fascinating and beautiful objects – ranging from archaeological finds to modern art – from many different public and private collections.

All Muslims, wherever they live, are obliged to complete this pilgrimage (known as Hajj) if they are able, at least once in their lives. Hajj takes place every year, starting on the eighth day of the month of Dhu’l-Hijjah (the last month in the Muslim calendar) and involves a sequence of rituals that must be followed over a period of five days.

When we consider the journey of Hajj it is important to imagine a time before modern travel – and it immediately becomes clear why the Arabic word Hajj conveys a sense of striving toward a goal.

The exhibition will explore four key historical routes that lead to Mecca – from Baghdad, from across the Sahara and via Cairo, from Istanbul through Damascus, and from across the Indian Ocean arriving at Jedda, the port for Mecca and where pilgrims arrive today – many by plane.

For some, this journey could take months. For those coming from across the Indian Ocean and further east, it could take a year as ships before the age of steam could only travel when the monsoon winds blew in the right direction. Such journeys could be rough and terrifying. The Malaysian Munshi Abdallah wrote in 1854 ‘A rough wind blew as we tried to cross Cape Cormorin. Oh God, oh God, oh God! I can’t begin to describe how horrendous it was and how tremendous the waves were….all the goods, chests, sleeping mats and pillows were flung about…everyone was lost in their own thoughts, thinking nothing else but that death was close at hand.’

Many of the objects will be coming from similarly far-flung locations, but their journeys will be much less perilous. Major loans will be coming from collections across the Middle East, from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as from Mali, Indonesia and Europe. A significant number of objects are being lent by the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art (Khalili Family Trust).

Certain objects, however, will merely be making the short trip from neighbouring galleries in the Museum, or from the Museum’s store rooms. With a global collection, the British Museum is well-placed to cover a subject that links so many different areas of the world.

Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam is open from 26 January to 15 April 2012.
Find out more

In partnership with King Abdulaziz Public Library, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

HSBC Amanah has supported the exhibition’s international reach outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam, , ,

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