After a fire burnt Battersea Arts Centre's Grand Hall to the ground in 2015, the local community stepped in to help rebuild and the new hall is almost finished. Ahead of his London visit, the team involved with the project have a message for Trump
Manuel Vason
On Friday March 13, 2015, Battersea Arts Centre’s Grand Hall burnt down. On Friday July 13, 2018, it offers a sneak preview of the renewed Grand Hall, as the first of ten free Phoenix Events in the coming months to thank members of the public for their support. This first event offers people a glimpse of the emerging Grand Hall, while actor and patron Toby Jones will read a poem telling the story of the public’s response to the fire, and a musical parade will be led by theatre company Little Bulb. The event marks the beginning of the countdown to the official re-opening of the Grand Hall on September 6.
To mark the occasion Battersea Arts Centre invited its community to come together to celebrate the values which have helped the arts centre re-open. When it was announced that President Trump would be visiting the UK on the same day, Battersea Arts Centre decided to share these positive Battersea-values with him.
Artistic Director David Jubb explains the story behind the photo: “In the days, weeks and months which followed the fire the public’s response was nothing short of awe-inspiring. People were thoughtful and generous, both with their resources and their imaginations. People came together to selflessly help out a group of people, a building and an organisation in need.
“The rebuild and renovation, brick by brick, has taken over three years. Now it is time to invite the first people back in to the renewed Grand Hall – for an early glimpse of the restoration – as we launch a countdown to the official re-opening in September and our five month long Phoenix Season. We are so thankful to thousands and thousands of people and organisations who have supported this story of rising from the ashes.
“When we were planning a celebratory event, we decided to take a photo at the front of the building with members of our community. We wanted to champion the principles which have enabled the organisation to get back on its feet. So we devised a photograph of our friends coming together, pictured with our collective values.
“When we heard that President Trump was also visiting the UK on July 13, we looked at the values we were seeking to celebrate, which have characterised the 125 year history of Battersea’s former Town Hall. We felt that they were in contrast with some of the values which President Trump’s leadership has come to represent.
Manuel Vason
The photo brings together a variety of people from Battersea Arts Centre’s community, including tea dancers who regularly use Battersea Arts Centre for social dance classes, Freddie and Amy who will get married in the renewed Grand Hall and who represent the thousands of brides and grooms who have been married in the Grand Hall over the decades, architects from Haworth Tompkins who have worked with Battersea Arts Centre for 10 years and lead on the Grand Hall’s rebuild, artists from BAC Beatbox Academy who celebrate their 10th birthday with a special performance of sell-out hit Frankenstein in the Grand Hall, film makers from Tea Films who will be among the first companies in co-working space the Scratch Hub, Touretteshero a.k.a. Jess Thom who is working with Battersea Arts Centre to make it the first ever Relaxed Venue, agents from The Agency, and scores of volunteers, members of the local community and staff from the centre.
“‘Not for me, Not for you, But for Us’ is Battersea’s mid-19th century motto and is one of Battersea Arts Centre’s core values. We think it captures a spirit of generosity and shared endeavour. We believe in building connections across communities to bring people together. We believe in the power of love and unity to make positive change. We believe in the central and powerful role of women to make the world a better place. We believe that art is a force for good and that everyone is creative.
“Because President Trump is coming to the UK on the same day as we re-open the Grand Hall, we thought we would address our optimistic set of messages to one of the world’s most important leaders. When our community assembled for the photograph, including members of our social dance class, our beatbox academy, young creative entrepreneurs, volunteers, artists and staff, there was a palpable and positive sense of a community coming together. Not to protest or to be angry. But to champion the things which we care deeply about.
“We offer our collective photograph as a positive and inclusive message. We welcome everyone to Battersea Arts Centre who shares our optimism about what we can achieve when we work together. We are inspired today by those who have gone before us in Battersea. The house which stood on Lavender Hill, prior to the construction of Battersea’s Town Hall, was called Elm House. A woman called Jeanie Nassau Senior lived in Elm House. She was the country’s first female civil servant, she developed the idea of foster care and her motto at Elm House was “come to us”. What would Jeanie have to say to us today in 2018?
“We think she would be filled with hope in terms of the way people have responded to the fire at Battersea Arts Centre. And we want to carry her productive legacy forwards. We are excited that on Friday July 13 we will offer a first glimpse of the renewed Grand Hall rebuilt by the strength of people coming together, built on the land on which Elm House once stood. This first event is just one small part of a wider campaign to say thank you to members of the public for their incredible support, their generosity and love, in helping the arts centre get back on its feet. There are 10 free “Phoenix Events” over the coming months and over 2,000 x £1 tickets for our local community. We hope you will join us.”
For the full list of Phoenix Events and tickets, visit: bac.org.uk
- Check out Theatre/Arts Section for more great local artistic news, reviews and interviews
- You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates on all our latest articles
- Sign up to our Weekly Newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and stories
- Looking to advertise your business in Surrey or SW London? Check out our 11 different lifestyle magazines with a combined monthly distribution of over 210,000 AB1 homes
