The Richmond Magazine

Covering Richmond Upon Thames and surrounding areas

Event: -	Silas Birtwistle: A Table from the Sea's Edge
Date: -	15 February 2010 to 15 March 2010
Time: -	Until March 31st Tue - Sat 1:00 - 4:30pm, Sun 2:00 - 4:30pm. From April 1st Tue - Sat 1:00 - 5:30pm, Sun 2:00 - 5:30pm.
Location: -	Riverside, Twickenham, TW1 3DJ map
Price: -	Admission Free
Website: -	http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/leisure_and_culture/arts/the_stables_gallery/silas_birtwistle_a_table_from_the_seas_edge.htm
Email: -	artsinfo@richmond.gov.uk
Telephone: -	020 8831 6000
Silas Birtwistle creates in the Stables Gallery, a large conference table and twelve chairs, made entirely from the driftwood collected from the four corners of the world. The project is to mark the UN international Year of Biodiversity and is supported by the World Wildlife Fund. The produced table and chairs will tour the world in 2010 -2011 after their completion. Artist Silas Birtwistle has begun the next stage of his ambitious project to promote marine conservation. A Table from the Sea's Edge will see him make a table and chairs from driftwood collected from the four corners of the world, to seat world leaders at a summit meeting in Japan in October. Birtwistle started work on the first chairs this week at the Stables Gallery in Twickenham - home of Richmond Council’s Arts Service - having gathered driftwood from the coastlines of British Columbia, Belize, Tanzania and Indonesia. The finished sculpture will be unveiled during the International Year of Biodiversity at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-10), in Nagoya, Japan, in October. The convention will provide a platform for a number of high-level United Nations’ debates and ceremonial signings on environmental issues. Birtwistle states: “The aim of the project is to raise awareness of the rich biodiversity of nature and make connections between man’s land-based activities and the marine and coastal environment. “It is also an opportunity to unite different cultures and coastal communities. It has been a huge effort to get everyone on board, from the United Nations, World Wildlife Fund, to the shipping companies who have delivered the materials, but everyone has been hugely supportive and I am now at a stage to begin the first pieces. “The finished work, which will include a table and twelve chairs, will become a centre piece of the conference. Promoting conservation of the world's coastal and marine biodiversity has now become a huge passion, and I hope this project will help stimulate people’s own ideas and encourage further debate.” Cllr Liz Jaeger, Cabinet Member for Youth, Culture and Leisure at Richmond Council, added: “We want to attract the best artists to our galleries here in Richmond upon Thames. Silas’ work is certainly among the most intriguing we have ever seen. It chimes very well with the Council’s green agenda and it will be interesting to see it come to fruition in front of our eyes.” In order to implement the project, each of the twelve chairs is being offered for sponsorship. From Nagoya, the work will be exhibited at venues around the world, during 2011. The piece will eventually be auctioned with all profits made available to participating NGOs and indigenous communities where the driftwood originated. The project will be at the Stables Gallery until 23 March