Horse Hospital Redux

The refurbished Horse Hospital opened its doors to the public for its first Kino Kulture event on Friday with their Other, Other Cinema night. I had been asked by them to help co-curate the evening, supply some introductory remarks and serve up suitable mood music for alien abductions during the intervals. Before the event officially began I had a chance to take some pictures of the new space, which seems more dedicated than ever to screening the kind of fabulous and rare movies you’re unlikely to see anywhere else in the UK. This really is an outstanding space and I wish everyone involved in its future as pleasant an evening there as I enjoyed on April 17.

The following afternoon I was at the ICA in front of another audience, offering another set of introductory remarks at a closely related event: the first showing of Julio Pereira’s Dressing the Assassin: a filmed conversation between Roger K Burton & David Ellis. ‘Roger K Burton and David Ellis rifle through the rails of the Contemporary Wardrobe Collection,’ runs part of the press copy for this remarkable film portrait, ‘whilst extemporizing on the bespoke and brooding deviancy of Spivs, Zazous, Teds, Ton-Up Boys, B-Girls and the ruthlessly ironed shirt. A memory examined.’

As Kino Kulture now takes place where the Contemporary Wardrobe Collection was once housed in the Horse Hospital, and the Contemporary Wardrobe Collection occupies the old Chamber of Pop Culture screening and exhibition space, to attend both events within the space of 24 hours was a particularly moving experience. But as is usually the case with anything to do with the Horse Hospital and its occupants, it left me thinking more about the future than the past.

Pictured above: a beautifully embroidered Horse Hospital logo on one of the front row seats; the screen, new sound system and stage area; an original Twiggy manikin looks on from the sidelines; the view from behind the screen during the Other, Other Cinema night with one of the titles from Craig Baldwin’s magnificent Mock Up On Mu plainly visible on the monitor.