Gormley's Waste Man goes up in flames. © Artangel
Camelia Gupta takes a charabanc down to Margate for a modern update of a biblical epic.
For over two decades the arts charity Artangel has pushed the boundaries of contemporary art; challenging artists and audiences alike. That determination and creative ambition has made for some of the most exciting and creative artistic experiences of this period.
Now that drive and ambition is to the fore again with The Margate Exodus, an ongoing film project and one-off event on Saturday September 30 that saw the seaside resort become the setting for an updated take on the Old Testament Book of Exodus.
The Margate Exodus project has involved local artists, musicians, singers and actors together with big names like Antony Gormley and Brian Eno. Artangel Outreach workers worked with locals recruiting, auditioning and cajoling for over two years prior to the day event.
Chatting to the crowds and overhearing conversations, opinions seemed to vary. Some people felt very engaged and excited. Others, and there seemed to be many of them, were surprised or bemused and didn’t really know what was going on.
Pharaoh Mann makes his speech in a Margate shopping square. © Artangel
The speech by Pharaoh Mann (played by actor Bernard Hill) typified much of the Margate Exodus Day; nice concept, shame about the execution.
Actors dressed as police mixed with ‘real’ security, whilst real press cameras jostled with pretend press cameras. The blending of real and staged characters worked well in confusing and destabilising our sense of what was going on.
The speech, when it came, was full of ‘I’m not racist but…’ and ‘we’ll find them somewhere nice to live’ clichés. Initially, hearing this rhetoric was an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience and I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if someone not ‘in the know’ came across what appeared to be a racist politician being enthusiastically cheered.
As Pharaoh Mann continued to speak, my reaction shifted dramatically. The stilted phrasing seemed less like a Nick Griffin-style ‘smooth’ BNP candidate, and more like a 1930s caricature. The call-and-response sounded like nothing so much as pantomime.
Scuffles break out between Police and protestors. Photo 24 Hour Museum/Camelia Gupta
It strikes me as a dangerous game to play in a town (and this is of course, a major part of why Margate was chosen) which has been at the forefront of the asylum issue in the UK over the last ten years, where protests by opponents have involved the BNP and where a picture of a young Muslim girl, taken as part of a Wendy Ewald series of photographs for the Exodus project, was torn down and burned.
This last suggests, that in some ways, the Margate Exodus is at least impacting on the local scene. That these images have the power to provoke is exciting. However, to see it only in those terms is to live in a utopian art-bubble where people’s lives and livelihoods are not at stake.
Later, a protest march against the Pharaoh’s policies took place, which had protestors being set upon by riot police. Running along the street, camera in hand, there was a moment where the reality of the situation seemed absolute, where I was implicated and involved.
But when a protester was dragged to the ground and beaten before our eyes the sense of safety I had snapped me uncomfortably back into the position of a consumer, watching a beating as ‘entertainment’. For an uncomfortable moment it all seemed to verge on emotional pornography.
Gormley's Waste Man prior to burning. © Artangel
Antony Gormley had produced a vast figure reminiscent of a wicker man, constructed from junk found around the town. On the evening of Exodus Day, the people of Margate witnessed Moses, standing in the centre of this colossal man, as he begged for compassion for those who were powerless.
After the speech, the figure was burnt – providing the heart-stopping moment of the day. A crowd of a couple of thousand had gathered; locals were texting mates in the pub to tell them to come along. I even noticed a group who’d set up tables and chairs on a nearby flat roof, who had settled in for the viewing.
The sense of detachment apparent earlier in the day disappeared for the moment of the burning. The crowd fell into a hush, awed by the spectacle. It was powerful, a second out of time and completely of its moment. Unfortunately, it was the only point during the day’s events at which Exodus Day seemed to reach the heights of its ambition.
It may be that trying to combine a day event/performance, with filming for the forthcoming Channel 4 film of the Margate Exodus was a difficulty that could not be surmounted.
Perhaps locals, who could pop home between events and relax before the next ‘happening’ enjoyed it more and the evening’s concert of Plague Songs – written by people like Tom Waits and Scott Walker but performed by musicians and locals offered much more of a carnival or festival experience. But in the end the demands the day’s events that tried to marry the two different activities of film and event made for a rather patchy experience.
The people of Margate watch as the Waste Man goes up in flames. © 24 Hour Museum/Camelia Gupta
The Margate Exodus is Artangel’s most ambitious work to date, and I salute the dedication to innovation and risk-taking that drove it. Unfortunately, unlike previous Artangel events such as The Battle Of Orgreave and Kuba, I didn’t get a sense of real involvement and engagement with the local communities, and so I don’t think the risk paid off.
