Poignant Willats artwork acquired by Museum in Docklands

14 May 2007

Museum in Docklands has acquired Working Within a Defined Context, a significant work from artist Stephen Willats, which is on display now in the museum. The multi-media panels depict working life in the docks during the 1970s and comprise of photographs, gouache, ink on card, letraset and photographic dyes.

The purchase was made possible with a donation of £5,000 from The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity and £4,000 from the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund.

One of the most significant British conceptual artist of the 1960s and 1970s, Stephen Willats multi-media working methods involve the deep exploration of everyday social-urban environments. Working in close collaboration with other people, from residents on housing estates to employees in the workplace, he creates a participatory art that both engages and demands an active, rather than passive response.

Working Within a Defined Context is a prime example of his approach. In the late 1970s, West India Docks moved towards eventual closure and the dockers faced redundancy. Willats, with permission from the Port of London Authority, ventured behind the dockyard gates to record the closed working activities within. With the dockers, he focused on selected objects, attitudes and behaviours to document their daily work. Taped conversations and photographs provided contextual detail with which he formed the final piece.

The panels collectively use London’s Docks to represent the enclosed world of any workplace. Ritual work processes are symbolised through key objects juxtaposed with glimpses of community life to reveal the social interaction and expression that exists to relieve the pressure of the defined context of their work. Associated items, quotes and graphic diagrams link these two parallel worlds to form a rich visual language, encouraging the viewer to explore the connections.

Artist Stephen Willats adds,

'This piece was always intended for public display and I can't imagine it finding a better or more appropriate home than the Museum in Docklands. At the time I made the work, right at the spot where Canary Wharf now stands, I didn't envisage that I would be recording a moment of transition between the old and new London.

'It is an expression of the uncertainties of ordinary people working in the docks at a time when their lives and livelihoods were under threat, but in capturing this passing moment, the work has also become a testament to the ever-changing nature of the city itself.'

David Spence, Director of Museum in Docklands comments,

'I am delighted that the Museum has been able to acquire this important work with generous assistance from The Art Fund and the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund. It speaks to a lost world that until very recently both dominated and characterized the East End of London. As a powerful piece of contemporary art Stephen's work has the power to resonate with today's audiences and provide an insight into working life in the docks on the very spot that the Museum now occupies.'

David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund says,

'Stephen Willats’ work captures the lives of a lost world, just as West India Docks were being closed after nearly two hundred years at the heart of the world of shipping. It’s a poignant reminder of the great anxiety and uncertainty that the dockers must have endured as they faced redundancy. The work has found the perfect home at the Museum in Docklands, which now occupies one of the warehouses in West India Docks.'

Janet Davies from the MLA/V&A Purchase Art Fund adds,

'The Purchase Grant Fund is pleased to have helped the Museum to acquire a work so appropriate to its collections and one which, by documenting a significant point in docklands history through a strong work of contemporary art, meets two strands of the Fund's interests.'

Note to editors

• For press enquiries contact Marian Williams on 020 7814 5502
• Museum in Docklands explores London's connections with the world through the 2000 year history of the river, port and people.  Across four floors of interactive displays the Museum’s unique collection takes you on a journey through stories of the Thames and surrounding areas from Roman settlement to 21st century urban regeneration. A changing programme of activities caters for visitors of all ages and includes gallery tours, storytelling, drama, talks by historians, films and guided walks through Docklands. The Museum opened in 2003 and is a short walk along West India Quay from the Docklands Light Railway or ten minutes from Canary Wharf underground station on the Jubilee Line.
• The MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund is a government fund, established at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A)  in 1881 as part of its nationwide work. 2006 marked the Fund’s 125th anniversary. The annual grants budget, currently £1,000,000, is provided by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The Fund supports the acquisition of objects relating to the arts, literature and history by regional museums, record offices and specialist libraries in England and Wales. Each year it considers some 300 applications and in 2006-07 awarded grants to 115 organisations, enabling acquisitions of over £4 million to go ahead. Visit the website at www.vam.ac.uk/purchasegrantfund
•  The Art Fund is the UK’s leading independent art charity. It offers grants to help UK museums and galleries enrich their collections and campaigns widely on behalf of museums and their visitors.  It is entirely funded from public donations and has 80,000 members. Since 1903 the charity has helped museums and galleries all over the UK secure more than 855,000 works of art for their collections. In 2006 it offered over £5 million to museums and galleries. In April 2007 The Art Fund launched a new £5 million scheme – ‘Art Fund International’ – aimed at developing the collections of international contemporary art in UK regional museums and galleries. Visit the charity’s website at www.artfund.org.