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The Agreement, 1713 - 2013
Red was commissioned to produce a photographic mural capturing the atmosphere at the peace negotiations in celebration of the Peace Treaty of Utrecht, which marked its 300th anniversary. The tableaux was hung on the monumental façade of the City Hall, Utrecht. The finished tableau measured an incredible 200 square metres. Red’s original sketches featured eight groups representing the key characters that took part in the Treaty negotiations and it was these that formed the core of the final Tableaux, which is remarkably close to the original sketch. These key elements are made up of the Aristocrats, Diplomats and negotiators around a huge under lit table; a Hogathian Debauchery scene that accompanies it, behind them the Calvinist bureaucrat and civil servants joined by the military are all watched by the citizens of Utrecht. There are small vignettes around the main group that imagined the elements of the treaty, from African slaves to allegorical references to early mercantile capitalism globalisation as well as Dutch painting, food, still life, flower girls, peace doves etc. All these elements were painstakingly positioned until Red was satisfied that the image as a whole worked as a giant Tableau and still retained the magical realism of his original idea. Quite simply ambitious community arts projects like these could not happen without the support of all our volunteers both cast and crew.
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