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Thursday April 28 2022 Tate Modern and Regent’s Park

 We met up with my cousin Elizabeth this morning at the Tate Modern. Elizabeth is an arts fundraiser, very much involved in community arts. Well, this is her bio from a report she just co-authored on funding for community arts: 

Elizabeth Lynch MBE is an arts advisor and researcher who works with artists and communities. Her experience lies in collaborating with and commissioning artists, especially in community contexts, and producing interdisciplinary projects across art, science, health and education. She established the flagship Roundhouse Studios as Director 2001-8 and now works for a range of arts and culture organisations, including Wellcome, National Trust and LAMDA.

She is an Associate Research Fellow in Contemporary Theatre at Birkbeck University, Chair of Board for Theatre-Rites, Trustee for Arts Catalyst, Critical Friend for Ideas Test and a member of Spitalfields Music Advisory Group. In 2002, London Borough of Tower Hamlets awarded her the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award for an “exceptional contribution to youth and culture in the borough.” In the New Year’s Honours 2020 she was awarded an MBE for services to arts and culture.

Sounds quite grand but Elizabeth is very funny, very down-to-earth and just spending a couple of hours with her going through an exhibit by Lubaina Himid at the Tate Modern, I felt like my mind came open to the experiences of black immigrants to the UK. Here are some photos from the exhibit:





We went to lunch after the exhibit and then posed for photos just outside the Tate. The neon sign is part of another one of Elizabeth’s friends exhibit; I saw her work when I was in England in September, in Covent Garden. All neon lights, so vibrant! These photos will probably be the only photos of us on this trip, I am more used to being behind the camera:




(And yes, I am hanging on to Richard who had to be dragged into the photo ;)

After we parted ways with Elizabeth, we walked over Millennium Footbridge (seen to the right in the photo above), past St. Paul’s and took the Tube to Regent’s Park to enjoy more flowers. And that was pretty much our day yesterday. Today I am going to Bedford to see my other cousin Bill. R is staying in Wimbledon as he says he needs to rest his knee before this weekend’s two days of luggage transferring. We are switching hotels in London for one night because our current hotel’s rates go up by over $100 for Saturday night. So I found a hotel closer to London, in Chelsea. Means some extra shlepping of luggage tomorrow but $100 is $100 when you are on the Richard Ackroyd travel budget ;) Bless him, he’s tried so hard not to be mean but he’s still finding London prices for food difficult to cope with.







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