Monday morning and the making of art begins. Over the weekend, we were able to get most of the supplies we had found on Friday delivered to the museum. So they were all in the building and the process of cleaning them and making them fit for work had begun. António arrived bright and early (before me in fact) and headed straight to the gallery. When I arrived, he was laying shutters, doors, and windows out on the ground. At the far end of the room, a really great contractor named Chai(sp?) was scrubbing the found objects with a hard brush and vacuuming them. With most of the dust off, he and António can begin painting them the vivid colors the artist has in mind. António also met with Andy Sutton from NMAfA’s Exhibitions Department, to select the paints with which he wants to work.
Later in the day… As the museum is also scrambling to prepare for the Obama’s inauguration (we are trying to put a painting of Obama by a contemporary Togolese artist and some textiles on view, and arranging for other activities and events), I have been running between the gallery, my office, other parts of the museum, and participating in scores of impromptu meetings in the halls. The other HUGE issue to come up today is that we have learned the other artist, Aimé Mpane, is having troubles with his visa. Last week –after two previous failed attempts to get a visa – Francine Berkowitz at the Smithsonian’s travel office was able to process a J-1 work visa for Mpane and he went to the US Embassy in Brussels in person. They approved the visa, said all was well, and he would get his passport in the mail in two days. Well, now it’s the night before he is supposed to fly and he still doesn’t have his passport. I’ve been scrambling, but it doesn’t seem like the State Department or anyone else can help. We’ve been able to track down that everything is issued; my colleague Frank Esposito has been coordinating with the airlines that Mpane’s flight can be changed, and I’ve told the artist to be at the Embassy to pick up his passport in person or find out in which post office it is waiting. And just when I thought getting António here would be the cliff-hanger…
Later in the day… As the museum is also scrambling to prepare for the Obama’s inauguration (we are trying to put a painting of Obama by a contemporary Togolese artist and some textiles on view, and arranging for other activities and events), I have been running between the gallery, my office, other parts of the museum, and participating in scores of impromptu meetings in the halls. The other HUGE issue to come up today is that we have learned the other artist, Aimé Mpane, is having troubles with his visa. Last week –after two previous failed attempts to get a visa – Francine Berkowitz at the Smithsonian’s travel office was able to process a J-1 work visa for Mpane and he went to the US Embassy in Brussels in person. They approved the visa, said all was well, and he would get his passport in the mail in two days. Well, now it’s the night before he is supposed to fly and he still doesn’t have his passport. I’ve been scrambling, but it doesn’t seem like the State Department or anyone else can help. We’ve been able to track down that everything is issued; my colleague Frank Esposito has been coordinating with the airlines that Mpane’s flight can be changed, and I’ve told the artist to be at the Embassy to pick up his passport in person or find out in which post office it is waiting. And just when I thought getting António here would be the cliff-hanger…
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment