National Glass Centre

On Friday 27 May Grainne Sweeney wrote:

Sarah and I are both at the breakfast table tapping away at the computer, starting the day with emails!

Another lovely day.

Lots to do so that we can have a free weekend, it's the official start to Summer here on Saturday and there's a festival on the Lido beach. It's pretty serious beach culture here and we're all slightly worried about the quality of our swimwear! It is as our new friend Georgio would say: "very 'Trevisso'!" (think WAG)

It was a late finish yesterday (but can't complain, we had dinner at Caterina and Gabriele's on the way home - pasta, pork, roast potatoes, pesto salsa, to finish lemon and vanilla ice cream) - we were determined to get Villa Joe up before we left - and we did, with excellent direction from Gabriele. Paul is arriving later today. It looks fantastic and I'm sure he'll be delighted.

Sarah struggled along admirably yesterday with toothache and managed to get 2 of the Weiners hung. It was a little farcical - a bit like NGC, nothing here has a right angle or straight edge, the walls lean and the floors slope. To complicate matters Valentino wouldn't take Sarah's advice. Today she is going in and will be directing Sergio who will do exactly as she says!

We resolved the issue of an extra panel for Rose - we had to pay for someone to go and get it from Caterina's store on the mainland and Gabriele has found a solution that will make hanging a fifth panel manageable. The panel will hopefully arrive this morning so that they can be hung and Rose can begin to put together STORYBOARD. She and Caterina will be up early to collect the glass from Murano. I can't wait to see it.

List for today:
CWE - we need to figure out how to secure it to the wall. It will be leaning against the wall and for security (as well as peace of mind) we have to find a solution.

EDW - we have the place and position sorted and will hang later.

Hang the Claire Fontaine Neon. They are bringing La Societe... with them, someone broke into their car which meant they missed the Fedex pick up. I'm not worried about this one, it's simply a matter of placing it on the floor.

Neil's - that's sitting calmly in front of the grand window waiting to be assembled and positioned - it will be the last thing we do today.

Sign off Banner and Poster with Sumo.

Buy press folders.

I should say finally that every day we have had the benefit of hearing the music practise coming from the music conservatory across the canal. Quite something. Yesterday Sarah and Rose saw a harp being unloaded from a little boat!

'Interloqui' is an exhibition led and presented by The National Glass Centre at the University of Sunderland and a collaboration between cultural partners in the North East of England - the Laing Art Gallery, Locus+, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art mima and The National Glass Centre with Caterina Tognon Arte Contemporanea in Venice on the occasion of the 54th Venice Biennale.