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Notes of the Advisory Committee on Works of Art Meeting held on Tuesday 17 June at 9.30am in Meeting Room T, Portcullis House

Members present: Mr Frank Doran (Chair) Sir Alan Haselhurst George Hollingbery Mr David Lammy Hywel Williams

Apologies: Mr Charles Kennedy

In attendance: Malcolm Hay, Curator of Works of Art Melanie Unwin, Deputy Curator Maev Mac Coille, Media Officer

1. CONSIDERATION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA

The Committee agreed the draft agenda.

2. INFORMAL NOTES

The Committee agreed the informal notes.

3. FINANCIAL REPORT

The Committee agreed the report.

4. ACQUISITIONS, LOANS AND MOVES

The Curator noted that the Charles Sims painting of the Chamber – a study for the painting Introduction of Lady Astor as the First Woman MP – had been acquired.

The Committee noted the loan of ‘The Ruined Council Chamber, House of Commons, May 1941’ by John Piper to the Britain exhibition 'Kenneth Clark - Looking for Civilisation' until 10 August 2014, as agreed by the Committee at its October 2013 meeting. The exhibition examined the influence of art historian and broadcaster Kenneth Clark (1903- 1983), seen by many as one of the most influential figures in British twentieth-century art.

5. ‘ETHICS OF DUST’ PROJECT, JORGE OTERO-PAILOS AND ARTANGEL

Michael Morris, Co-Director of Artangel, Jorge Otero-Pailos, Artist, and Aisling McStravick, Parliamentary Estates Directorate, briefed the Committee on an art project involving use of latex imprints from the stone-cleaning works in Westminster Hall.

Michael Morris said that Artangel had commissioned ambitious works in relation to significant historical sites. For this project, Artangel had worked closely with the Parliamentary Estates Directorate (PED)

Aisling McStravick said that the Artangel team had come on-site in January 2014 to observe the conservation and cleaning of the walls. The contractors had worked with Mr Otero- Pailos to agree a test process which did not impact on the project timeline or quality of cleaning, but which fulfilled the needs of both the contractors and the artist. The latex was

1 PI 01 removed in sections and collected for Artangel, a process which was almost complete for the east wall. All costs were being met by Artangel.

6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The Deputy Curator noted that the artist in-residence, Mary Branson, had made good progress in reviewing the Archives, including 12000 suffrage petitions, and had met with suffrage historians. Work was underway to bring together a women Members’ focus group. Mary Branson would be making a presentation to all Members on Monday 7 July at 6 pm in the Wilson Room to talk about her work so far, and would come to the Committee in the autumn with proposals. In addition, she would be contacting all members of the Committee individually about the commission.

The Committee agreed that the annual art gallery visit would take place in the autumn at the Tate Britain. Dr Penelope Curtis had agreed to host the visit and dates were currently under discussion. The visit would provide an opportunity to share knowledge and discuss areas of common interest in managing collections and using them to engage with the public.

The Chair noted that a request had come in from 10 Downing Street for use of the glass wall in Portcullis Hall to mount an exhibition of photographs relating to the NATO Summit for two weeks in mid-July. The Chairs of the Administration Committee the Works of Art Committee were liaising with the Cabinet Office to facilitate this request.

The Media Officer noted that the first ‘Artwork of the Month’ feature for June had gone live via parliamentary Twitter accounts – an image of the interior of Westminster Hall in connection to the landmark Mansfield judgement against slavery. Wherever possible the Artwork of the Month would tie in with a parliamentary anniversary. The Chair noted that the second edition of the newsletter would also be sent out.

7. DATE AND TIME OF THE NEXT MEETING

9.30am on Tuesday 15 July 2014, Room T, Portcullis House.

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