ARTS in Redditch recently joined forces with Redditch Photographic Society to produce ‘eye level’ images of Eduardo Paolozzi’s 12 mosaic panels in Milward Square, Kingfisher Shopping Centre.
This exercise, which was carried out with the help of Kingfisher Shopping Centre, is part of a research project by Philip Roberts, a trustee of Arts in Redditch, to ‘flesh out’ the history of the mosaics which depict the town’s needle-making heritage.
When the mosaics were unveiled in April 1983, they were the UK’s largest ever publicly-funded art commission.
In 2015, the Kingfisher commissioned conservation works to restore the panels to their former glory, and in 2016, installed additional lighting to highlight the texture of the work, made up of glass tiles from Spilimbergo in Italy.
Philip said: “This is one of Paolozzi’s most important commissions, undertaken when he was head of the Royal College of Art, and we were keen to catalogue the panels from a different perspective, since they are only ever seen from ground level.
“Staff at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre have always recognised the importance of the work, and have given us their full support.”
Philip’s research has so far taken him to the Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, which holds the original collages prepared by Paolozzi as templates for his designs, and to the Whitechapel Gallery for the recent Paolozzi retrospective.
He’s also visited the archives of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London which holds details of how the work was commissioned and funded.
Local organisations will hear about the progress of the project when Philip gives talks to Feckenham WI and Redditch Inner Wheel in October.
Arts in Redditch is a local charity devoted to promoting interest and participation in the arts.
