Thursday, December 1, 2011

Today saw Edinburgh’s Scottish National Portrait Gallery reopen following a two-and-a-half-year, £17.6m (US$27.4m) refurbishment. Conversion of office and storage areas sees 60% more space available for displays, and the world’s first purpose-built portrait space is redefining what a portrait gallery should contain; amongst the displays are photographs of the Scottish landscape—portraits of the country itself.

First opened in 1889, Sir Robert Rowand Anderson’s red sandstone building was gifted to the nation by John Ritchie Findlay, then-owner of The Scotsman newspaper and, a well-known philanthropist. The original cost of construction between 1885 and 1890 is estimated at over 70,000 pounds sterling. Up until 1954, the building also housed the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland who moved to the National Museum of Scotland buildings on Chambers Street. The society’s original meeting table now sits in the public part of the portrait gallery’s library, stared down on by an array of busts and phrenological artefacts.

Wikinewsie Brian McNeil, with other members of the press, received a guided tour of the gallery last Monday from Deputy Director Nicola Kalinsky. What Kalinsky described as an introduction to the gallery that previously took around 40 minutes, now takes in excess of an hour-and-a-half; with little in the way of questions asked, a more inquisitive tour group could readily take well over two hours to be guided round the seventeen exhibitions currently housed in the gallery.

A substantial amount of the 60% additional exhibition space is readily apparent on the ground floor. On your left as you enter the gallery is the newly-fitted giant glass elevator, and the “Hot Scots” photographic portrait gallery. This exhibit is intended to show well-known Scottish faces, and will change over time as people fall out of favour, and others take their place. A substantial number of the people now being highlighted are current, and recent, cast members from the BBC’s Doctor Who series.

The new elevator (left) is the most visible change to improve disabled access to the gallery. Prior to the renovation work, access was only ‘on request’ through staff using a wooden ramp to allow wheelchair access. The entire Queen Street front of the building is reworked with sloping access in addition to the original steps. Whilst a lift was previously available within the gallery, it was only large enough for two people; when used for a wheelchair, it was so cramped that any disabled person’s helper had to go up or down separately from them.

The gallery expects that the renovation work will see visitor numbers double from before the 2009 closure to around 300,000 each year. As with many of Edinburgh’s museums and galleries, access is free to the public.

The expected significant increase in numbers has seen them working closely with the National Museum of Scotland, which was itself reopened earlier this year after extensive refurbishment work; improved access for wheelchair users also makes it far easier for mothers with baby buggies to access the gallery – prompting more thought on issues as seemingly small as nappy-changing – as Patricia Convery, the gallery’s Head of Press, told Wikinews, a great deal of thought went into the practicalities of increased visitor numbers, and what is needed to ensure as many visitors as possible have a good experience at the gallery.

Press access to the gallery on Monday was from around 11:30am, with refreshments and an opportunity to catch some of the staff in the Grand Hall before a brief welcoming introduction to the refurbished gallery given by John Leighton, director of the National Galleries of Scotland. Centre-stage in the Grand Hall is a statue of Robert Burns built with funds raised from around the British Empire and intended for his memorial situated on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill.

The ambulatories surrounding the Grand Hall give the space a cathedral-like feel, with numerous busts – predominantly of Scottish figures – looking in on the tiled floor. The east corner holds a plaque commemorating the gallery’s reopening, next to a far more ornate memorial to John Ritchie Findlay, who not only funded and commissioned the building’s construction, but masterminded all aspects of the then-new home for the national collection.

Split into two groups, members of the press toured with gallery Director James Holloway, and Nicola Kalinsky, Deputy Director. Wikinews’ McNeil joined Kalinsky’s group, first visiting The Contemporary Scotland Gallery. This ground-floor gallery currently houses two exhibits, first being the Hot Scots display of photographic portraits of well-known Scottish figures from film, television, and music. Centre-stage in this exhibit is the newly-acquired Albert Watson portrait of Sir Sean Connery. James McAvoy, Armando Iannucci, playwright John Byrne, and Dr Who actress Karen Gillan also feature in the 18-photograph display.

The second exhibit in the Contemporary gallery, flanked by the new educational facilities, is the Missing exhibit. This is a video installation by Graham Fagen, and deals with the issue of missing persons. The installation was first shown during the National Theatre of Scotland’s staging of Andrew O’Hagan’s play, The Missing. Amongst the images displayed in Fagen’s video exhibit are clips from the deprived Sighthill and Wester-Hailes areas of Edinburgh, including footage of empty play-areas and footbridges across larger roads that sub-divide the areas.

With the only other facilities on the ground floor being the education suite, reception/information desk, cafe and the gallery’s shop, Wikinews’ McNeil proceeded with the rest of Kalinsky’s tour group to the top floor of the gallery, all easily fitting into the large glass hydraulic elevator.

The top (2nd) floor of the building is now divided into ten galleries, with the larger spaces having had lowered, false ceilings removed, and adjustable ceiling blinds installed to allow a degree of control over the amount of natural light let in. The architects and building contractors responsible for the renovation work were required, for one side of the building, to recreate previously-removed skylights by duplicating those they refurbished on the other. Kalinsky, at one point, highlighted a constructed-from-scratch new sandstone door frame; indistinguishable from the building’s original fittings, she remarked that the building workers had taken “a real interest” in the vision for the gallery.

The tour group were first shown the Citizens of the World gallery, currently hosting an 18th century Enlightenment-themed display which focuses on the works of David Hume and Allan Ramsay. Alongside the most significant 18th century items from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection, are some of the 133 new loans for the opening displays. For previous visitors to the gallery, one other notable change is underfoot; previously carpeted, the original parquet floors of the museum have been polished and varnished, and there is little to indicate it is over 120 years since the flooring was originally laid.

Throughout many of the upper-floor displays, the gallery has placed more light-sensitive works in wall-mounted cabinets and pull-out drawers. Akin to rummaging through the drawers and cupboards of a strange house, a wealth of items – many previously never displayed – are now accessible by the public. Commenting on the larger, featured oils, Deputy Director Kalinsky stressed that centuries-old portraits displayed in the naturally-lit upper exhibitions had not been restored for the opening; focus groups touring the gallery during the renovation had queried this, and the visibly bright colours are actually the consequence of displaying the works in natural light, not costly and risky restoration of the paintings.

There are four other large galleries on the top floor. Reformation to Revolution is an exhibition covering the transition from an absolute Catholic monarchy through to the 1688 revolution. Items on-display include some of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s most famous items – including Mary Queen of Scots and The Execution of Charles I. The portrait-based depiction of this historical age is complemented with prints, medals, and miniatures from the period.

Imagining Power is a Jacobite-themed exhibition, one which looks at the sometime-romanticised Stuart dynasty. The Gallery owns the most extensive collection of such material in the world; the portraiture that includes Flora MacDonald and Prince Charles Edward Stuart is complemented by glassware from the period which is on-loan from the Drambuie Liqueur Company which Kalinsky remarked upon as the only way Scots from the period could celebrate the deposed monarchy – toasting The King over the Water in appropriately engraved glasses.

On the other side of the upper floor, the two main naturally-lit exhibitions are The Age of Improvement, and Playing for Scotland. The first of these looks at societal changes through the 18th and 19th centuries, including Nasmyth’s 1787 portrait of the young Robert Burns and – well-known to past visitors to the portrait gallery – Raeburn’s 1822 depiction of Sir Walter Scott. These are complemented with some of the National Gallery’s collection of landscapes and earliest scenes from Scottish industry.

Playing for Scotland takes a look at the development of modern sports in the 19th century; migration from countryside to cities dramatically increased participation in sporting activities, and standardised rules were laid down for many modern sports. This exhibition covers Scotland’s four national sports – curling, shinty, golf, and bowls – and includes some interesting photographic images, such as those of early strong-men, which show how more leisure time increased people’s involvement in sporting activities.

Next to the Reformation to Revolution gallery is A Survey of Scotland. Largely composed of works on-loan from the National Library of Scotland, this showcase of John Slezer’s work which led to the 1693 publication of Theatrum Scotiae also includes some of the important early landscape paintings in the national collection.

The work of Scotland’s first portrait painter, the Aberdeen-born George Jamesone, takes up the other of the smaller exhibits on the east side of the refurbished building. As the first-ever dedicated display of Jamesone’s work, his imaginary heroic portraits of Robert the Bruce and Sir William Wallace are included.

On the west side of the building, the two smaller galleries currently house the Close Encounters and Out of the Shadow exhibits. Close Encounters is an extensive collection of the Glasgow slums photographic work of Thomas Annan. Few people are visible in the black and white images of the slums, making what were squalid conditions appear more romantic than the actual conditions of living in them.

The Out of the Shadow exhibit takes a look at the role of women in 19th century Scotland, showing them moving forward and becoming more recognisable individuals. The exceptions to the rules of the time, known for their work as writers and artists, as-opposed to the perceived role of primary duties as wives and mothers, are showcased. Previously constrained to the domestic sphere and only featuring in portraits alongside men, those on-display are some of the people who laid the groundwork for the Suffrage movement.

The first floor of the newly-reopened building has four exhibits on one side, with the library and photographic gallery on the other. The wood-lined library was moved, in its entirety, from elsewhere in the building and is divided into two parts. In the main public part, the original table from the Society of Antiquaries sits centred and surrounded by glass-fronted cabinets of reference books. Visible, but closed to public access, is the research area. Apart from a slight smell of wood glue, there was little to indicate to the tour group that the entire room had been moved from elsewhere in the building.

The War at Sea exhibit, a collaboration with the Imperial War Museum, showcases the work of official war artist John Lavery. His paintings are on-display, complemented by photographs of the women who worked in British factories throughout the First World War. Just visible from the windows of this gallery is the Firth of Forth where much of the naval action in the war took place. Situated in the corner of the room is a remote-controlled ‘periscope’ which allows visitors a clearer view of the Forth as-seen from the roof of the building.

Sir Patrick Geddes, best-known for his work on urban planning, is cited as one of the key influencers of the Scottish Renaissance Movement which serves as a starting point for The Modern Scot exhibit. A new look at the visual aspects of the movement, and a renewal of Scottish Nationalist culture that began between the two World Wars, continuing into the late 20th century, sees works by William McCance, William Johnstone, and notable modernists on display.

Migration Stories is a mainly photographic exhibit, prominently featuring family portraits from the country’s 30,000-strong Pakistani community, and exploring migration into and out of Scotland. The gallery’s intent is to change the exhibit over time, taking a look at a range of aspects of Scottish identity and the influence on that from migration. In addition to the striking portraits of notable Scots-Pakistani family groups, Fragments of Love – by Pakistani-born filmmaker Sana Bilgrami – and Isabella T. McNair’s visual narration of a Scottish teacher in Lahore are currently on-display.

The adjacent Pioneers of Science exhibit has Ken Currie’s 2002 Three Oncologists as its most dramatic item. Focussing on Scotland’s reputation as a centre of scientific innovation, the model for James Clerk Maxwell’s statue in the city’s George Street sits alongside photographs from the Roslin Institute and a death mask of Dolly the sheep. Deputy Director Kalinsky, commented that Dolly had been an incredibly spoilt animal, often given sweets, and this was evident from her teeth when the death mask was taken.

Now open daily from 10am to 5pm, and with more of their collection visible than ever before, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery will change some of the smaller current exhibits after 12 to 18 months on display. The ground-floor information desk has available five mini-guides, or ‘trails’, which are thematic guides to specific display items. These are: The Secret Nature trail, The Catwalk Collection trail, The Situations Vacant trail, The Best Wee Nation & The World trail, and The Fur Coat an’ Nae Knickers Trail.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Angry fans of popular Indian film actor Rajinikanth rioted in 10 cinemas in Malaysia after the release of the actor’s latest movie was delayed by technical problems.

The release of Sivaji: The Boss was supposed to occur simultaneously across southern India and Tamil-speaking parts of Malaysia on Thursday. But not enough prints of the film were available, so cinemas in Malaysia had to resort to trying to screen digital versions of the movie on equipment they were unfamiliar with, which led to the delays and glitches. Fans found the situation unacceptable.

According to a report in today’s New Straits Times, the worst-hit in the mayhem was the Sri Intan Theatre in Klang, in Selangor state. Patrons had started lining up at 4 p.m. local time (0800 GMT), and waited five hours for the show to start.

Due to technical problems, it started late at 10:30 p.m., with tickets for both the 9 p.m. and midnight shows fully booked. Then, halfway through the film, at around 11:30 p.m., the screening was halted due to “technical problems”, according to the cinema manager, and could not be fixed.

The management announced that the show had to be cancelled and offered to refund the ticket money, but then the crowd became unhinged. Glass displays, lights and speakers were smashed. The screen and curtains were torn. Chairs were ripped apart, and wood panelling damaged. According to another local daily, The Star, angry fans even briefly set fire to the building, but it was quickly extinguished by cinema staff.

The Sri Intan has suspended screenings while repairs are made. Damage is been estimated at 70,000 Malaysian ringgit (about US$20,000).

In Ipoh, about 125 miles (200 kilometres) north of Kuala Lumpur, police were summoned to control unruly crowds at the Sri Kinta cinema. A cinema manager was beaten by irate fans, and he was taken to the hospital with head injuries that required stitches.

Police were also called in at a cinema Penang, where patrons banged on ticket counters, demanding refunds and that the movie be shown. The first showing finally got under way after a three-hour delay.

Fistfights broke out at a cinema in Rawang, where fans threw bottles and smashed glass cases.

In Kuala Lumpur, the venerable Coliseum Theatre also had an unruly crowd.

“People grew impatient and started pushing, resulting in a broken glass panel at the counter. We only got the movie at 4:30 p.m. and started selling the tickets at 4:45 p.m.,” theater owner Chua Seong Siew was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times.

The movie distributor said the delay was due to not enough prints of the film being sent from AVM, the Chennai-based production company.

“Rain and delay in getting the digital password from India for security reasons to beat piracy were the primary reasons for the delay and cancellations. Because of the rain, our delivery was affected and as a result, there was a delay in the screening of the movie,” S. Vel Paari, head of distributor Pyramid Saimira Theatre Chain, was quoted as saying by The Star.

Paari said he had ordered 53 copies of the film, but only got 42.

“The remaining 11 prints had to be downloaded through the Internet,” he explained to The Star.

The film, Sivaji: The Boss, is a 185-minute cavalcade of action, romance and song-and-dance numbers, starring Rajinikanth, one of the most popular stars of Tamil cinema, which is also known as “Kollywood“, the second-largest of the Indian film industry after the Hindi-language “Bollywood“. Budgeted at US$15 million, which is huge by Indian-industry standards, the film is said to be the most expensive yet made in India.

The film’s flamboyant 57-year-old star, Rajnikanth, has a cult-like following in Tamil-speaking southern India, and tickets to the film have been sold out for weeks.

In Malaysia, about 10 percent of the population of 26 million are ethnic Indians, most of them Tamil.

Monday, October 29, 2012

The Bremer Freimarkt (Free Fair) — historically one of the oldest fairs in Germany — has its greatest event with the Free Fair Procession “Freimarktsumzug”; this year’s Freimarktsumzug took place Saturday.

The procession started Saturday morning on the opposite side of the river Weser in the “Neustadt” and passed the city hall about one hour later. 146 colorfully decorated groups were taking part, some of them dancing to their own music, and were watched by about 200.000 people in the streets during more than four hours of the whole performance. The event could also be viewed on television and on livestream on the web.

The Free Fair opened on the place behind the main station of the city of Bremen a week ago. The origin of this popular event can be traced back to the year 1035. Nowadays it has been called the “biggest Fairground Festival in northern Germany”.

For a few years, an historical spectacle involving actors of the theatre group Shakespeare Company has been part of the opening performance of the fair. With a replica of an old cog an ambassador enters the banks of the river Weser close to the city and walks with his companions to the market place in front of the city hall of Bremen where the Kleiner Freimarkt (Small Free Fair) is opened. Members of the Chimney Sweep Guild hang up a big heart at the statue of Roland as a sign of the opened market. The traditional opening takes place in the Bavarian tent on the Bürgerweide behind the main station of Bremen with the tapping of the first keg by the incumbent Senator of the Interior of the Free Hansetown of Bremen. This is followed by the dance with Miss Free Market on the stage. Late at night, also fireworks are lighted over the place Bürgerweide and can be admired by people. The exclamation Ischa Freimaak (It’s Free Fair) is meant to spread a relaxed and unreserved atmosphere among the guests.

The fair is a major source of revenue for showmen, carousels and food stalls, some of which arrived nearly two weeks before the opening from all over Germany. This year the Freimarkt is to last until Sunday November 4. The subsequent disassembly, especially the technically complex rides, should then take about ten days.

• Large portable Ferris wheel Image: Online Team www.ekd.de.

• Free Fair Procession in the City of Bremen 2009 on its way from the Neustadt Image: House1630.

• Fairground Festival at night Image: Tobi85.

• The monastery’s oxen were used in a procession during the Free Fair in the nineteenth century Image: Lithography by Friedrich Wilhelm Kohl, 1845.

• Reconstruction of the cog “Roland von Bremen” Image: Eva K..

• Free Fair Procession Saturday on its way to the the main station Image: House1630.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Dennis Sheehan, U2’s tour manager, died in his Los Angeles hotel room on Wednesday at 68 years of age.

In their second show at the Los Angeles Forum, U2 paid tribute to their tour manager. According to The Guardian, in-between songs U2’s lead singer Bono reflected on Sheehan’s life to the audience, saying how he was family to the band. Bono said, “U2’s family — it’s a brotherhood, although there’s a lot of sisters in it too… but the extended family is very important to us and we look after each other. It takes a lot to put on a show like tonight, and last night we lost a member of our family. Dennis Sheehan was his name. He was U2’s tour manager for 33 years.”

During the show, Bono also added, “A lot of U2 songs over the years were written to fill a void, an absence, a hole in a heart left by a loved one. With the loss of Sheehan, U2 now has such a wound.”

According to Rolling Stone, Sheehan was with the Irish band U2 on their five-day Los Angeles tour. He was discovered dead in his West Hollywood hotel room and pronounced dead from a heart attack on Wednesday morning after paramedics were called at 5:30am local time. According to Billboard, the paramedics found Sheehan unresponsive before pronouncing him as dead soon after.

The band earlier on announced the death of their tour manager via their website, and in a statement, Bono said, “We’ve lost a family member, we’re still taking it in. He wasn’t just a legend in the music business, he was a legend in our band. He is irreplaceable.” Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Global Touring for Live Nation Entertainment also stated his thoughts on the loss of Sheehan: “With profound sadness we confirm that Dennis Sheehan, U2’s longstanding tour manager and dear friend to us all, has passed away overnight. Our heartfelt sympathy is with his wonderful family.”

Having been a tour manager for U2 for over 30 years, Sheehan began his career at the age of 19, and started working with the band in 1982. Sheehan also toured with Led Zeppelin in the 70s and worked with other artists such as Patti Smith, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop. Rolling Stone quote Sheehan talking to U2 Magazine in 1984 about how special the band was: “There is something extremely special about U2… Whether it be in their social lives, which they are very particular about, or in their business life… they go for the best, and in turn the people that work for them give of their best.”

U2 are currently on their international “Innocence and Experience” tour which concludes in November.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Some public services in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, are shutting for extended periods over Christmas and New Year in an effort to save money.

Public hospitals are cancelling elective surgery for periods of up to six weeks. The University of Newcastle has forced all staff to take annual leave and has ceased its core functions of research and teaching for three weeks.

A NSW Health spokesperson has defended its decision to keep quiet about the shutdowns, saying “They [NSW Health] don’t want to release any more information – we are telling the public enough.” The NSW president of the Australian Medical Association, John Gullotta, disagrees saying “We are losing up to three months of the year in shutdowns.” He went on to say “A lot of it is about cost savings – they will blame the holidays, but it is about reining in costs.”

According to the University of Newcastle its shutdown “is, at this stage, a one-off event.” Further, “the primary objective of the Christmas close down is to reduce leave accruals.” Earlier in the year the University laid off 412 staff in an effort to reduce costs.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Visibly relieved and sobbing as the verdict was read, Robert Blake was acquitted on all counts and walked out of the courtroom yesterday a free man.

Charged with murdering his wife, the jury acquitted Blake due to lack of evidence. He was also charged with two counts of soliciting to have his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley killed. The jury acquitted him on one count, and the judge dismissed the second after the jury became deadlocked in an 11-1 vote.

He was greeted by a crowd of cheering supporters outside the courthouse. The star of the television series Baretta crushed out one of his trademark cigarettes and spoke to the gathering, thanking his lawyers and private investigators who he described as, “This small band of dedicated warriors that saved my life.”

In a speech that lasted 30 minutes, he talked of having to spend $10 million for his defense and said that he was now a poor man who needed a job. The 71 year-old actor also said he was ready to “cowboy it…Get in a motor home or van, feel the wind in my hair and find a little bar in Arizona or someplace.”

The prosecution, which did not seek the death penalty, painted Blake as caught in a loveless marriage with Bakley. Tricked into marrying her by his love of their daughter Rosie, now 4, they claimed that he had felt trapped by a woman who had a history of being a low-life grifter. They alleged that Blake, frustrated after trying to find someone to kill his wife for him, killed her himself. They also claimed that he was the trigger man who, after dining with his wife in their favorite restaurant, put two bullets in her head as the two of them sat in their car outside.

The jury foreman in the trial, Thomas Nicholson, described the prosecution case against Blake as “flimsy.” He said “they could never connect all the links in the chain. We couldn’t put the gun in his hand.” Blake’s defense team was also able to successfully discredit witnesses who testified on the solicitation charges.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Zaragoza, Spain — On Thursday, Wikinews traveled to Zaragoza, Spain to interview the nation’s most decorated Paralympian and IPC Athlete Council representative Teresa Perales. A wide range of topics about the Paralympics and sport in Spain were discussed including the evolution of Paralympic sport, disability sport classification, funding support across all levels of elite sport including the Paralympics and Olympics, the role of sportspeople in politics, sponsorship issues, and issues of gender in Spanish sport.