York Art Gallery’s collaborative exhibition with indie rock band, Kaiser Chiefs won the Partnership of the Year Award at the Museums + Heritage Awards last night (22 September) which were broadcast to the world online.
The exhibition When All is Quiet: Kaiser Chiefs in Conversation with York Art Gallery explored the boundaries between music and art and was seen by more than 25,000 people during its run.
Anna Preedy, director of the annual Museums + Heritage Awards, said: “Collaboration is increasingly important. Here we have a project which is the definition of a true partnership, achieving something which neither York Art Gallery nor Kaiser Chiefs could not have done on their own. Their collaborative project, When all is Quiet, was bold in its creativity and hugely inspiring – a very worthy winner!”
Reyahn King, chief executive of York Museums Trust, said: “We’re thrilled to have won this award. The exhibition was bold and brave in its approach, with our curators and Kaiser Chiefs working closely to create a unique experience which presented our collections in new and innovative ways. It was fantastic to work in partnership with them on the project and to create something which proved so popular with a wide range of audiences.”
Vijay Mistry from Kaiser Chiefs said: “Wow! Thanks so much for this award, it’s really greatly received especially at this challenging time. We knew that we had created something unique and special and it’s amazing for that to have been recognised. Huge thanks to York Art Gallery for the collaboration and massive thanks to everyone involved, your contributions were priceless.”
The award was presented virtually on the Museums + Heritage’s Facebook and YouTube channels because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
For more information about the awards go to: https://awards.museumsandheritage.com/shortlist-2020/
The exhibition
Using their position as musicians as a starting point, the band delved deep into the Gallery’s Fine Art collections and paired paintings with a “set list” of songs inspired by the art. Visitors were then able to view the artworks, whilst listening to the tunes chosen by the band. Kaiser Chiefs brought together works by internationally regarded sound artists which had resonated with them whilst travelling. These included Janet Cardiff’s internationally acclaimed The Forty Part Motet and the Turner Prize, winning work The Woolworth’s Choir of 1979 by Elizabeth Price. Inspired to create their own art installation, the band used light, colour, and lyrics from the songs on the “set list” to create Silent Gig, an immersive environment that offered visitors a reconfigured experience of a live music show and its elements.
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