“We’re adamant we’re not going to give in to these violent acts.” The work, he added, is now “here to stay” for the summer until October. ![]() It wanted to take a “strong stance,” he said. Joseph Constable, the De La Warr Pavilion’s head of exhibitions, said it has been a time of heightened tension in the town amid government plans to use a former prison to house asylum seekers.Īfter the attack on the sculpture the gallery was inundated with messages of support and disappointment from the community. It has been charged with all this energy from all those individuals who have now become part of the artwork.” “The sculpture has this immense power now because of this event – not because of the vandalism, but because of the community restoration. ![]() Self, who grew up in Harlem and lives in upstate New York, said before the reopening picnic and talk, she was looking forward to seeing Seated again, which is now “embedded” with the energy of the community, and meeting those who helped restore it. It was beautiful to see all those people – and so many more people showed up than I would ever have anticipated – and they were able to take physical action.” “I felt like that’s far more empowering for people who are upset and hurt and scared by this incident. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. She was taken aback by the way in which the vandalism was carried out – the “deliberate act” of changing the figure’s skin tone. So it’s truly a public art sculpture in a way I would never have imagined for it to be.” “Three hundred people in that community have touched it and aided the remaking of it. “Every single person that touched the sculpture, their hand will forever be embedded in that artwork, and now the work is really owned by that community in a way that it never would have been if not for this incident,” said Self, who works across painting, print making, sculpture and collage. ![]() In the process, the artwork, which first went on display in Bexhill in April before it was vandalised last month, has taken on a new life. Because I felt like, at the end of the day, people would visually see how their actions were able to counteract this gesture of hate.” “I asked the museum to uncover the sculpture so everyone could fully absorb and digest what had happened, and to allow people to participate in the restoration of the sculpture in lieu of a more traditional protest. But Self requested they remove the tarpaulin covering it – which she felt “perpetuated more fear and anxiety” – and instead invite the community to practically contribute to its restoration by helping to remove the paint before it was professionally repaired. “That something as relatively innocuous as a sculpture of a woman in a sun hat and sundress, sitting on a chair, can provoke this level of rage and animosity is, in my opinion, solely because the woman is Black.”Īmong the early ideas by the arts centre to respond to the vandalism was an anti-racism protest. ![]() In many ways, the fact that a sculpture of a Black woman sitting on a chair could attract such vitriol demonstrated a lot of the ideas that the work was exploring, she said. Tschabalala Self’s sculpture at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, before it was vandalised.
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