September 16, 2009

The Front Room

Playwright Michael McMillan's new book, The Front Room: Migrant Asthetics in the Home, looks at the part the home plays in the lives of migrants

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibitinno — The floors are often carpeted, often with the high pile termed 'plush'. A general 'any colour as long as it's maroon principle' was applied to all upholstery, curtains, carpets, artificial flowers and countless other decorations.
Installation, The West Indian Front Room, Geffrye Museum, 2005-06. Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibition — As a social and cultural phenomenon, the particular nature of the front room resonates throughout the African diaspora.
Installation view of Van Huis Uit: The Living Room of Migrants in the Netherlands curated by McMillan at Imagine IC, Amsterdam, 2007 Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibition — The front room was a symbol of status and respectability, announcing that no matter how poor you were, if the front room looked good then you were "decent" people.
Installation view The West Indian Front Room, Geffrye Museum, London, 2005-06 Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room — The front room was very much my mother's room, and as a second generation, black British person from an aspirant working class family, I have my own memories, reflections and meanings of the front room.
Portrait, Brixton, c1969 Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibition — The presence of Jim Reeves, lace crochet, the Blue Spot gramophone, or plastic covered upholstery was less about valorised white-bias ideals of beauty than about the creolization of popular culture.
Installation at the Geffrye Museum, London, 2005 Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room — Television has tended to represent West Indian parents as conservative, upstanding, god-fearing citizens as opposed to their children, black youth, who are often portrayed as problematic.
Wedding Photo, installation view The West Indian Front Room, Geffrye Museum, 2005-06 Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibition — Installation view, The West Indian Front Room, Geffrye Museum, London, 2005-06 Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibition — Blow glassfish, detail from installation at the Geffrye Museum, London, 2005 Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibition — Family Photo, Birmingham, c1970s. Copyright Vanley Burke Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibition — Souvenirs from trips were collected by predominately female black church congregations, and projected the image of a seasoned traveller. Even though they may have been brought back by a friend.
Black velour scroll, The West Indian Front Room, Geffrye Museum, London, 2005-06 Photograph: PR

The Front Room: The Front Room Exhibition — Preserving the lifespan of cherished pieces of furniture was a particular obsession and seating was often covered with intricately designed, home-made lace crochet. My mother learned from a friend a way of making doilies which involved weaving strands of luminous coloured synthetic wool into a grid and cutting the knotted junctions, to bring up a delicate fluffy effect.
Installation view, The West Indian Front Room, Geffrye Museum, London, 2005-06 Photograph: PR

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