Back at Kettle's Yard

In Pedraglio’s ‘Spoken Sculpture’ exhibition the pieces were activated through live performances during the opening event on Tuesday. The wall installations are designed to illustrate complex philosophical ideas (written in booklets on the floor) that Pedraglio explained during his performance. I only know this because a very engaging Kettle’s Yard employee recounted Tuesday’s event to me, even though she wasn’t there herself either. This was when she also explained to me her job in the gallery, and the role of anyone wearing a green lanyard. It was Ede’s vision that art should be accessible to everyone, hence Kettle’s Yard’s ‘facilitators’, people employed to do just that. My facilitator, Rhea, not only talked to me of this week’s quick-fire exhibition but also of the three previous exhibitions and she offered alternative explanations and interpretations that helped me to see certain things in a refreshingly new and brighter light. It’s a shame that it has taken until week 4 of my visits to realise that these facilitators exist and also to meet one who really is doing a fantastic job with confidence and engagement. There is no information about these people anywhere in the gallery or online, which seems a real shame because I suspect that people would seek them out more if they knew that this was their specific purpose. Come on Kettle’s Yard, let’s make accessibility accessible!

The facilitator in The Sackler Gallery was at a loss as to how to make the Patrick Coyle’s ‘Panoram’ exhibition accessible. She had only arrived half an hour before and was having trouble accessing it herself. I could see why.