and thank you
it was a lovely night - much more than we expected (including more people!) but just as we had hoped.
thank you all of you that came for making it a very special opening, for the gift shop and for jon cartwright, and for all your generous and kind comments on the night. and thank you all of you that sent best wishes from all over the world.
it’s time for that oscar speech.
some special mentions: torange - who made it with dara and ava, and without andreas; claire’s crazy crowd; all our mates (why do you all live in north london anyway?); my country gal soph all the way from wiltshire; the cartwright family from crawley; john bruguier and diane without whom the whole show would have been a no show; the exhibit crew - you are amazing, and you make us laugh; our artists and their friends, especially team toey; dolce and gabbana and their friends; gorgeous lovina from the eatery; lloyd and co for staying open late; tomas (miracle), magic (that really is his name) and heaven - our incredibly handy men - and no you can’t have their numbers; and to pele pele pele pele who has been holding my hand ever since, and always has.
since thursday we haven’t been able to open due illness, and hence the lateness of this post.
but we will be open as normal this thursday, 4th december, friday and saturday 10-5, and you’ll be able to see jon’s work until the 12th. the gift exchange will also be open and is a permanent fixture in the shop. we heard some great ideas for gifts on the night, so we’re looking forward to getting that going. i’ll be here friday and saturdays to record exchanges and help generate ideas where needed.
hope to see you soon.
pilar
one week to go
things are moving along nicely. the fabulous john bruguier from offthewall is in tonight getting the screens ready for the video display. we have about 23 screens of an original 50 or so that were used for a duran duran concert back in the day. apparently the other half have gone along to the arts council. so we’re in very good company all in all. he’s checking which screens work and which don’t. and then he’s ‘degousing’ them. then he’ll be programming. boy.
meantime, we’ve had a slideshow of the artists’ work on display in the window for the last couple of weeks. what’s really cool is you can see it glow when you come out of whitechapel tube.
ok. i’ve just been told it was a whole duran duran tour. not just a concert.
our first post
on my way home from the day job today i’d been getting myself ready for the gift shop to do list. which tonight included: ‘write first post’. i’d had all sorts of fancy thoughts on the tube on the way home. in fact, the first chapter of the book I was dreaming along to was (quite randomly) all about the topic at hand (here’s a great line: “she was a relentless giver of gifts”). i’d also written an oscar level thank you speech in my head. there was lots to say. of great importance. where would I begin? i could see a long night ahead. sigh.
as i managed the keys into the lock while holding the bag and the brolly i saw we had a letter on the doormat. it’d obviously been there all day. double sigh.
and then i saw the address: the gift shop, 2a east mount street, london e1 1ba.
no typos, no fuss, first class and everything!
OUR FIRST PROPER LETTER!
so, tonight, no grand words, no big speeches. just - I’m very very excited. very very happy. and very thankful.
so thank you. you know who you all are.