this section is where you can find further information and detail about the project.

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Endnote 1. Aims & Success Indicators

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1.Experimental Methodology:  whether the exhibition is authentically developed and curated with participants and how successful the collaborative process is.

 

• test a new methodology for community curation

• be based on the best practice and theory of integrated curatorial learning

• be a personal challenge for those involved

• hear and represent Individual voices

• present the process as a key feature of the project

• offer professional development for those involved

• take those involved on personal journey

 

2. Research based: whether the process is grounded in visual and literary research,

 

• present a living, contemporary response to the poem

• be grounded in literary and visual arts research

 

3. Outcome: whether a high quality and critically acclaimed exhibition is delivered.

 

• meet the normal objectives and outcomes for a gallery space

• be presented in a clear but provocative way

• generate positive press and critical response

 

4. Reception: what the experience of the visitors is and how the participatory curatorial process impacts visitor experience.

 

• successfully engage with funders and stakeholders

• educate audiences

• make the poem more accessible to audiences

• attract large audiences

 

5. Legacy: the difference made to the organisation and the community.

 

• achieve integrated and engaged practice between the gallery and community

• be a long term engagement with members of the local community

• work with local partners

• create a community of participants

• reach into the town

• enable those involved to develop skills that they can take beyond the project

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Endnote 2 - Right to reply

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from Dan Hiester: 

First, I have read everything twice and feel that you and Lydia have done an excellent job. It reflects very well my experience, having been involved from the very beginning in The Waste Land project. Although you will probably do some technical refining, and possible additions depending on the feedback you receive from others, I do not think you should try to reduce it or change the order and/or titles of the sections. Each is vital for telling the whole story.

 

I communicated with Trish a few weeks before our first meeting at the Shelter in August 2015, and remained active until the very end. Coincidentally, at about the same time, I became a Patron of Turner Contemporary, and therefore became well acquainted with the organization of the gallery, the staff, and how things worked from their point of view. I did not mention this when I joined the group and we all introduced ourselves, but over time members became aware, and, of course, Trish and Danielle were staff of the gallery.

 

I found the early months at times frustrating, as we seemed to be talking about everything except the poem. I soon learned that this was the new way of group working (as explained to me by my wife when I would arrive home complaining). However, I never considered leaving. Also, I think that over time, and as the project evolved, my contributions became more useful. Why do I mention all this? Because you describe very well that there were many disagreements and debates over the whole period between members of the group, and that in the end these led to a positive outcome for the project. And of course, despite disagreements, we became a group, and I confirm your latter comments about how we succeeded in the project as a result. And we also became friends.

 

Your sections about how things began to change as the gallery staff became more involved as we approached deadlines captures the situation very well. I vividly remember the meeting as we neared the end when the relevant member of staff said, more or less, ' today by 4 PM you decide the colour of the walls, or we do'. I am happy to say that concentrated minds.

 

As for myself, my contributions were varied and many. Having retired from the University of Kent many years before, I still kept up contacts and as soon as the project started I contacted the Master of Eliot College and told him about the project. Mike and Trish then followed as official contacts with him for the project.

 

Regarding my background and interests, I grew up in the United States but have lived in Kent since 1974. I soon joined the Royal Academy and the Tate and appreciating art has always been an important part of my life. Poetry was there as well, but neglected until this project came about. No longer. Reading poetry regularly has once again become a part of my life. Also, for many years my wife and I have been collecting art. All of this explains my interest and commitment to Turner Contemporary and The Waste Land project.  

 

While I have not given you anything to add to the text, I hope I have convinced you that from my point of view you have created an excellent resource that would otherwise never have existed. Thank you.

 

from Judy Dermott:

I was very involved with group, contributing written work and pretending to be Vivien Eliot, until just before opening of Exhibition I had serious accident and was necessarily and abruptly removed from process. Very strange experience! You are welcome to include it as my life event if you wish.

 

This  seems  a fair and reasonable account of events but it would be very difficult to convey the warmth and emotional input engendered amongst the Research Group. I think very few of us were left unchanged by the experience, certainly it is something I will remember and treasure for rest of my life. I can only thank the Turner, Mike, Trish and all the other members of the Group for giving me the opportunity to take part in such  an innovative and challenging experience. I am only sorry that my untoward accident just prior to Christmas last year meant I was unable to participate in the final weeks and during the actual opening. I sat in Canterbury feeling like Cinderella deprived of the  trip to the Palace, the glitter and the Grand Ball! But I'm very grateful for what I did have. Thankyou.

 

Further  to my note sent yesterday:

Just occurred to me overnight that the most valuable thing I took - and I think contributed - to the Group was the insight gained between past and present, the commingling of Margate in the early 1920's and early 21st Century. This is of course the essence of Modernism ( which I had previously studied in some detail ) but the sense of a presence on the seafront - especially on warm October evenings - of Eliot and Vivien walking amongst living breathing human beings was quite  astonishing. Not only that but that the concepts which the poem confronts ( feminism ,gender, mental illness, conflict, relationships, the problems of blending creativity with the experience of living ) are as relevant today as they were when the poem was written. And that is a comforting and reassuring philosophy to live by - that as we suffer and live and love so were people one hundred years ago; just as they will be in one hundred years time.

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from Jenni Deakin:

I just wanted to say that you have done a sterling job and I have just sat and read through it. It was very well worth it and I found it quite moving. 

To relive everything that had transpired from inception through to the bitter end!  I just feel very privileged to have been part of a truly memorable event. 

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from Julia Riddiough:

I would like to add that this project has been transformational for me in many ways. It has taught me to be more inclusive, tolerant and thoughtful. In addition I have learnt to listen more deeply to others. It was extremely valuable to hear all the different viewpoints and that certainly made this very rich for me.

 

As an artist with my own art practice often taking folks on art and architecture tours I always introduce the session saying that there is no ‘right or wrong’ here when engaging with work. It’s about your own experience good or bad because you are the ‘frame’. No judgement all opinions, views are valid. It’s not necessarily about understanding what is in front of you it’s about how you feel in that moment and maybe questioning that or not?

 

I try to give people a safe space that hopefully encourages folks to use their voice and agency as people! 

 

I saw this same thing happen during the project. People became more confident, tried different

things that they would not have dreamt doing before and had a good time doing it! In particular with some of the women who were involved. It was wonderful to witness this!

 

We became a tribe with many different colours supporting one another in our goal. I miss our camaraderie and sense of togetherness. 

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from Franca Pauli:

I was personally interested in creating collective change, I’d say that two main subgroups created within the group. One was willing to create change and inspire surprise and reflection. The other one was more “conservative”, academic and in some cases even challenged the existence of “community”. This is what made me feel much less involved in the project from December 2017 on (too painful).

I think that with all due respect many member of the group had no idea of the methods and rules of traditional curating and the group couldn’t help but break those bounds J

At some point I was really hoping the Turner staff intervened massively to limit the group’s freedom.

I was finding irritating to the point of leaving the group to see a few members of the group behaving like professional curators and I couldn’t believe how patient the Turner staff was and what a huge risk was being taken by the gallery.

I’m still in awe of how the Turner staff has been able to respectfully guide a group of volunteers that were not always aware of the amazing opportunity they were being given. Trish was an amazing reference for us all.

Offsite - This was key to understanding the exhibition and not just to celebrate the community’s work. Without knowing, visitors would have probably felt very confused.

“We have made this happen” with the expert guidance, supervision, coordination and funding by the gallery and in the stunning spaces of the gallery. We as volunteers had nothing to lose and went on an exciting journey. I think it’s important to make it very clear that the gallery and the gallery staff are part of the community when we talk about the community project.

I think some off-site events were a bit improvised and not very respectful of the huge effort the exhibition involved.

As a venue owner, to me it would be a fantastic thing to be able to work with Turner on off-site activities and having to meet their quality standards would be of course an effort but one I would be happy to make and that would make us grow and evolve a great deal. On the other hand, even if the Turner does not endorse off-site events, they will still happen and people will still associate the gallery with them, so I guess it’d be better for all to collaborate without compromising on quality and demanding that venues raise their standards whenever needed if they want to associate with the gallery (not the other way around).

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from Virginia Fitch:

For others it (gallery intervention) was an unwelcome realisation of the boundaries they were working within.  It would be interesting to compare what the finished exhibition would have looked like without the changes that took place at this point (ie a more diverse selection)  Which works would be missing from the exhibition.  By the time the exhibition was in full swing I think most of us had softened our initial criticism of some of the chosen works.  Like a family – you don’t always like everyone but you tolerate them and learn to love them! (I’m talking about the works of art by the way!)   We all loved the “Tree” in the end.Almost too late within the Process, I found an intense interest in St Augustine of Hippo and the Faith element of the poem.  As we were unable to obtain the original portrait we wanted from LACMA – in the end and after much deliberation I resorted to exhibiting a modest photocopy of the grand image in a gilt frame together with a personal copy of the Book of Common Prayer, of the vintage that TSE would have used.  Jonathan Jones’(Guardian) review scathingly accused a member of the RG of even bringing in some personal religious items.  This was what we always wanted to avoid – a homespun, amateur approach – many in the RG may have agreed with JJ in fact.  I understood that.  But felt a responsibility to promote the Faith element of the poem – and TSE’s own turmoil and yearning with Faith (in parallel to my own)  I was cut to the quick by JJ’s criticism and felt I had let the side down.  A lot of the process was personal so when it was criticised  - it DID hurt.Thinking about their relationship with Turner Contemporary, one member of the research group posed the question - “what are we now? We aren’t guests anymore. Are we family - or invaders?” The project has touched lives, sending many down new paths.

I am definitely interested in contributing (giving back) to TC in the future and would be happy to contribute volunteer hours during the Turner Prize preparations.

At the end of the exhibition I felt upset when I realised that when the exhibition was taken down – it would be lost to us for ever.  With that in mind I did walk around with my mobile and literally filmed each work of art in the gallery!  Having just read through this resource  - I am so happy that the process has been documented and kept safe for whatever eventual purpose.  If only for the RG group members to read it occasionally and remember “that we did that”