11.53
Bredonborough.
A sunny day, then a grey day. Over to World HQ I…
II...
… for morning reading I…
II...
… then e-flurrying…
There is lots going on.
16.20 Back across the Square…
… for lunch. Then to haircut and chiropodist.
16.23 Off to Gloucester…
art & soul
In 2006, to coincide with the Queen’s first visit to the Baltic States, the Estonian Embassy in London organised an exhibition in Tallinn bringing together Estonia’s foremost painter Juri Arrak and British artist PJ Crook. Now the honour is returned and Juri joins Gloucestershire artist PJ in exhibiting at Gloucester City Museum in this the Queen's Jubilee year. Although both artists are quintessentially of their own nationalities they have in common the human figure at the centre of all their works and the spirituality that imbues them.
You are cordially invited to the Preview of the exhibition
introduced by Richard Graham MP and opened by Toyah Willcox on Friday 11th May from 6 pm
Gloucester City Museum
Brunswick Street, Gloucester GL1 1HP
21.05 A wonderful event I…
II...
III...
IV...
V...
Dr. Margus Laidre (Opening Speech / RF diaries 12th July 2010) was unable to attend, so asked me to read the following:
My dear friends,
So you are here and I’m there! This makes me happy and sad at the same time, but joy prevails. In a way my entire four and half years’ residence in the UK as ambassador of my country and a couple more years after that served to walk the entire road from an initial dream to the very opening of this exhibition tonight. Let me be clear at once that the wait was worth it.
Every person is a story, one big story with several smaller ones inside. Besides, each person knows a lot of stories. They are told and heard, carried along everywhere. Stories are very different. The stories of members of one family can be as different as chalk and cheese. However, if you look at them from a distance – for example as a guest from a foreign country – the stories of one nation all seem relatively similar. Different from those of another nation. Listening to numerous stories, we suddenly realise that „this seems to be a typically English or Estonian story.” I’m confident that the current exhibition searches for answers to the same questions, or to put it even more broadly – to what it means to be human in our 21st century schizoid world.
A perfect Estonian world would be one in which everybody knew exactly how everybody else felt without ever having to talk about it. It would be easier to get a computer to cry than to get Estonians to share their innermost feelings, even if they share the same bed.
My acquaintance with Pamela June Crook started more than ten years ago when I first spotted her painting, “An Angel with a Tiger” on the Internet and I immediately fell in love with her work. This deep affection has lasted ever since. I met Jüri Arrak almost twenty years ago when I first organised his exhibition at the Estonian embassy in Stockholm. Needless to say, both PJ and Jüri are my favourite contemporary artists who, although different in style, both search for answers to similar existential and eternal questions, often in a religious context. Both artists have reached out and broadened perspectives not only in an artistic sense but as great ambassadors for their respective countries, deserving our highest regard and deepest respect.
It is a wonderful British tradition that every speech should include at least one joke. This should not be expected from an Estonian. In the unlikely event of an Estonian being persuaded to tell a joke of his own, you should watch the speaker carefully in order to spot when the joke is over. This requires practice as it is often not at all obvious when this point is reached. A good guideline is to laugh politely after the speaker has been silent for several minutes. If you are worried about whether to laugh or not, don’t. Always remember that there is no observable difference between the behaviour of an Estonian who has enjoyed a joke, and a visitor who doesn’t realise he has just heard one.
Now finally, our patience is rewarded and it’s time to thank the co-plotters from the bottom of my heart, starting with marvellous PJ and Jüri, Richard Parker Crook, Andrew Fox, Reet Remmel and many, many others – you know who you are!
In my physical absence and spiritual presence,
Margus of the North
The opening was very well attended. Toyah’s introductory words, on the power of art in her life, I found very moving. Richard Parker Crook’s work behind the scenes, that made the exhibition possible, were invisible. The work of the two artists, very powerful.
The exhibition runs until 30th. June.
Bredonborough.
A sunny day, then a grey day. Over to World HQ I…
II...
… for morning reading I…
II...
… then e-flurrying…
There is lots going on.
16.20 Back across the Square…
… for lunch. Then to haircut and chiropodist.
16.23 Off to Gloucester…
art & soul
In 2006, to coincide with the Queen’s first visit to the Baltic States, the Estonian Embassy in London organised an exhibition in Tallinn bringing together Estonia’s foremost painter Juri Arrak and British artist PJ Crook. Now the honour is returned and Juri joins Gloucestershire artist PJ in exhibiting at Gloucester City Museum in this the Queen's Jubilee year. Although both artists are quintessentially of their own nationalities they have in common the human figure at the centre of all their works and the spirituality that imbues them.
You are cordially invited to the Preview of the exhibition
introduced by Richard Graham MP and opened by Toyah Willcox on Friday 11th May from 6 pm
Gloucester City Museum
Brunswick Street, Gloucester GL1 1HP
21.05 A wonderful event I…
II...
III...
IV...
V...
Dr. Margus Laidre (Opening Speech / RF diaries 12th July 2010) was unable to attend, so asked me to read the following:
My dear friends,
So you are here and I’m there! This makes me happy and sad at the same time, but joy prevails. In a way my entire four and half years’ residence in the UK as ambassador of my country and a couple more years after that served to walk the entire road from an initial dream to the very opening of this exhibition tonight. Let me be clear at once that the wait was worth it.
Every person is a story, one big story with several smaller ones inside. Besides, each person knows a lot of stories. They are told and heard, carried along everywhere. Stories are very different. The stories of members of one family can be as different as chalk and cheese. However, if you look at them from a distance – for example as a guest from a foreign country – the stories of one nation all seem relatively similar. Different from those of another nation. Listening to numerous stories, we suddenly realise that „this seems to be a typically English or Estonian story.” I’m confident that the current exhibition searches for answers to the same questions, or to put it even more broadly – to what it means to be human in our 21st century schizoid world.
A perfect Estonian world would be one in which everybody knew exactly how everybody else felt without ever having to talk about it. It would be easier to get a computer to cry than to get Estonians to share their innermost feelings, even if they share the same bed.
My acquaintance with Pamela June Crook started more than ten years ago when I first spotted her painting, “An Angel with a Tiger” on the Internet and I immediately fell in love with her work. This deep affection has lasted ever since. I met Jüri Arrak almost twenty years ago when I first organised his exhibition at the Estonian embassy in Stockholm. Needless to say, both PJ and Jüri are my favourite contemporary artists who, although different in style, both search for answers to similar existential and eternal questions, often in a religious context. Both artists have reached out and broadened perspectives not only in an artistic sense but as great ambassadors for their respective countries, deserving our highest regard and deepest respect.
It is a wonderful British tradition that every speech should include at least one joke. This should not be expected from an Estonian. In the unlikely event of an Estonian being persuaded to tell a joke of his own, you should watch the speaker carefully in order to spot when the joke is over. This requires practice as it is often not at all obvious when this point is reached. A good guideline is to laugh politely after the speaker has been silent for several minutes. If you are worried about whether to laugh or not, don’t. Always remember that there is no observable difference between the behaviour of an Estonian who has enjoyed a joke, and a visitor who doesn’t realise he has just heard one.
Now finally, our patience is rewarded and it’s time to thank the co-plotters from the bottom of my heart, starting with marvellous PJ and Jüri, Richard Parker Crook, Andrew Fox, Reet Remmel and many, many others – you know who you are!
In my physical absence and spiritual presence,
Margus of the North
The opening was very well attended. Toyah’s introductory words, on the power of art in her life, I found very moving. Richard Parker Crook’s work behind the scenes, that made the exhibition possible, were invisible. The work of the two artists, very powerful.
The exhibition runs until 30th. June.
