Features / arnolfini
The Arnolfini’s new Front Room
Coffee in hand, a visitor to the Arnolfini on a recent morning took a seat downstairs in what is usually a gallery space but is currently the Front Room.
It’s where conversations and collaborations can begin, and where ideas can take root – a physical representation of Edson Burton’s manifesto, Imagine New Rules, on the outside of the building that is slowly beginning to find its feet again.
In the Front Room, there are hundreds of books not just for decoration but to peruse – all of which have been taken down from the Arnolfini’s former reading room on the second floor which is now office space.
is needed now More than ever
The first of three that caught the eye this particular morning were a lavishly illustrated work looking at the career of Grayson Perry – the last artist whose work adorned these walls.
Another had a bright yellow cover, blue-edged pages and was small enough to fit in a jacket pocket. Pass the Spoon by David Fennessy, David Shrigley and Nicholas Bone is described as “a sort-of opera about cookery”, which was first performed at Tramway in Glasgow in 2011.
The third book in the random trio was another small volume, the Arnolfini’s annual review from 2005/2006, a year in which the gallery reopened in Bush House following a two-year closure for refurbishment.
Just over a decade later, the Arnolfini lost its Arts Council England funding and its future looked uncertain, but the arrival of Clare Doherty at the helm has helped to steady the ship, with 2018 set to be a year of reevaluation of the gallery’s purpose.
As a woman in her early 20s with a bob haircut and hand knitted gloves also perused the books in the Front Room, a member of the cafe team delivered a tray of hot drinks to an older couple who had ensconced themselves in one corner of the space.
Visitors are encouraged to take over food and drink from the cafe, or bring their own, and use the Front Room for meetings and other assorted gatherings.
“Bring your laptop, meet people, have a conference. It’s quite spacious with a lot of privacy,” a member of staff told another visitor. “Thanks for dropping by.”
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