All of this Belongs to You, V&A at Field Day Sunday 7th June


Learning
May 28, 2015

Guest Post: Karin Andersson from muf architecture/art on the V&A Exhibition All of this Belongs to You and a visit to Field Day

Apollo and Zephyr at Field Day

In the medieval and renaissance gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum stands two naked muscular men next to each other on pedestals. They glance towards the floor between them, looking humble and longing. The two men are the Greek gods Apollo and Zephyr.

2009CT2949_jpg_ds     2009CT2955_jpg_ds

Apollo 1577                                                              Zephyr 1577

(Francavilla, Pietro)                                              (Francavilla, Pietro)

The statues are, as the other objects in this room, taken from buildings, squares and gardens of medieval and renaissance Europe. Here, inside the protecting walls of the museum, these sculptures remain untouched by the vagaries of weather, speculation, conflict and daily life, while in their places of origin, daily life continues in their absence. For muf’s contribution to the All of this belongs to you-exhibition we selected three sculptures in the medieval and renaissance gallery. We figured, if the statues can’t return to their original sites, then the life of the sites today will have to come to the statues, as a sort of reversed restitution.

We went to the Villa Bracci in Florence to find the place of origin of Apollo and Zephyr. There, in a neglected and overgrown garden, we found the niches the statues used to occupy. Inside Villa Bracci we found the contemporary inhabitants, a self governing center for senior citizens who play cards, arrange dances and take care of an allotment garden. We invited their London counterparts  -the Thursday over 60’s club from St Peter’s Italian Church to the museum. They played cards, had a raffle and sang the slave chorus from Verdi the Italian (and British) National Anthems, the strictly prohibited finished their visit with dancing testing the rules and the limits of the medieval and renaissance gallery.

At Field Day, the on the Sunday 7th June Apollo and Zephyr, (2D versions) will attend the music festival in Victoria Park. We bring the gods back to the public life as enjoyed in an East End garden– Apollo being the patron of poetry, music and leader of muses, and Zephyr as he is the west wind of springtime and also married to Chloris, the Greek goddess of flowers.

The exhibition at the V&A that is called All of this belongs to you wants to use the museum as a laboratory for public life. If all of the objects in the museum actually belong to all of us, then the objects will have to make an effort to come to us in the real public space of the city. And as the objects can’t really do that by themselves they need us to do that for them.

 

Karin Andersson

muf architecture/art

 

All of this Belongs to You, V&A at Field Day

Get the most from your mobile phone camera – All of this Belongs to You, the V&A at Field Day.

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We’re excited to be partnering with Field Day on Sunday 7 June as part of the programme for All of This Belongs to You, an exhibition at the intersection of design, democracy and public life.

Drop in for a workshop led by V&A Exhibitions Road Artist in Residence Jamie Jenkinson.

Working with the visitors of Field Day, Jamie will run a drop in workshop on how to ‘get the most out of your camera phone’, from basic tips sharing to recording live music to image making.

 

 

About Field Day

Entering its ninth year, Field Day returns to its home in Victoria Park on Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 June, with its unique formula of a pioneering line-up coupled with village fete mentality, all in the heart of East London. This year’s stellar line-up includes Caribou and newly reformed, seminal band Ride, who will be headlining the Saturday and Sunday respectively. They will be playing Field Day alongside the likes of Patti Smith (performing her groundbreaking album ‘Horses’ in full), FKA Twigs, Mac DeMarco, Todd Terje & The Olsens, Django Django, Run The Jewels, Savages and many many, more. Street Feast and Venn Street Market will be providing the most delicious foods, while London’s Brewers’ Market will be drafting London’s finest lager from the city’s best independent breweries.

Field Day

Victoria Park, London

Saturday 6th June and Sunday 7th June

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