BBC Great Britons Churchill Memorial Sculpture now on view
at
Weald & Downland Open Air Museum
The BBC
Great Britons Churchill Memorial Sculpture, Song, is now on view at the
Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, at Singleton, near Chichester in West
Sussex.
The
sculpture will be displayed in the award-winning Jerwood Gridshell Space,
in the Museum's Downland Gridshell building, until September 2005. The
Gridshell, shortlisted for the 2002 RIBA Stirling Prize, is a stunning,
modern, timber-framed structure used by the Museum as its conservation
workshop and artefact store. Gary Appleton of Green Oak Ltd, one of the
carpenters who built the Gridshell, also worked on the construction of
Song.
Created
by sculptor Paul de Monchaux, Song is the culmination of the BBC TWO
series Great Britons, in which Sir Winston Churchill was voted the
greatest Briton of all time by BBC television viewers. The sculpture was
first unveiled in February 2005 in Westminster Hall, in London’s Houses of
Parliament.
Song is
a free standing wooden tower measuring 2.1m by 1.4m by 1.4m and made of 20
interlocking pieces of sawn green English oak heartwood.
Facsimiles of Churchill's distinctive typewritten speech drafts are
embedded in the work.
The
sculpture is inspired by the way Churchill’s speeches were set out on the
page, in stepped diagonal blocks, and by their message of strength through
cooperation. The individual elements of the sculpture are unstable but,
once interlocked, the structure stands firm. The title of the piece comes
from Churchill's own description of his contribution to a meeting of
French leaders at the time of Dunkirk: "I sang my usual song: we would
fight on whatever happened."
Richard
Harris, Director of the Museum, says: "The Downland Gridshell seems a
natural home for Song: an oak sculpture in an oak building, both modern but
both celebrating traditional values."
Mark
Harrison, Creative Director, Arts, at the BBC and executive producer of the
Great Britons series adds: “I’m delighted that people in the South of
England, many of whom will have will have voted in the Great Britons series,
now have the chance to see Song, which so strikingly celebrates the
personality and achievement of Sir Winston Churchill.”
Entrance
to the
Weald &
Downland
Open Air Museum is as follows: adults £7.70, over 60s £6.70; children £4.10,
family ticket £21. Song will visit other regional venues before being
installed in a BBC building in London.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The
award-winning Weald & Downland Open Air Museum has over 45 historic building
exhibits and is designated by the Government for the outstanding importance
of its collections. Exhibits include a medieval farmstead; a working
watermill producing wholemeal stoneground flour; exhibitions focusing on
traditional building techniques and agriculture; historic gardens, farm
livestock and a working Tudor kitchen. The Museum runs a well-established
programme of courses in building conservation and rural crafts. There is a
café which uses the Museum’s own flour and a shop with gifts and books on
countryside and buildings themes. The modern Downland Gridshell houses the
Museum’s building conservation centre and artefact collection. There is a
daily tour at 1.30pm when the Museum is open, and an appointments system for
visits to the collections for research purposes.
NOTE TO EDITORS
Paul
de Monchaux: Paul de Monchaux was born in
Montreal,
Canada, in 1934. He studied at the Art Students League in New York, USA,
before coming to the Slade School of Fine Art in London in 1955. He was
Lecturer in Sculpture at Goldsmiths College (1960 - 1965) and was also
Head of Sculpture & Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art (1965 - 1986).
He retired from teaching in 1986 to concentrate on his sculpture.
Great
Britons: The Great Britons television series ran on BBC TWO from 20
October to 24 November 2002.
The series launched with a public poll people to nominate the person they
thought was the greatest Briton of all time. The top 10 then featured in a
10-part series in autumn 2002 in which high-profile presenters asked viewers
to vote by phone or through bbc.co.uk. In total 1.6 million people
registered votes.
Song:
Is funded by the profits generated from the telephone voting during the
television series, excluding the final programme. Profits from the voting
during the final were donated to BBC Children In Need. The total budget for
the memorial is £50,000, which includes materials, construction,
installation, touring costs and the artist’s fee. Song is a free standing
wooden tower, measuring 2.1m x 1.4m by 1.4m, weighing 2.25 tons, and made of
20 interlocking pieces of sawn green English oak heartwood felled at Home
Wood, Denn Park, Horsham, West Sussex in June 2004 as part of a thinning
operation to improve tree growth. The trees used were planted after World
War I to replace wartime felling.
Reporters and photographers are welcome at the Museum.
For
further information call the Museum information line on 01243 811348 or
contact Cathy Clark, Marketing Officer
Tel:
01243
811014.
Fax:
01243 811475
Email:
marketing@wealddown.co.uk.
Full
details about the Museum and its activities can be found at
www.wealddown.co.uk
BBC
Publicity:
Janet Morrow, 020 7737 7008/07966 313693
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