Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Hi all,
Thank you for the work you brought to our second session - there was real substance on the table: a structured budget with two scenarios and three benchmarks, a complete organisation chart in both full-scale and adapted-team versions, a niche/emerging artist list with serious MENA research across four research streams, an extended competitor map, and a first list of funding bodies. That is more than I expected at this stage, and I want to acknowledge that before anything else.
I also want to flag a practical point at the start. The materials reached me only at the end of our meeting. That means we used the hour together discovering the work rather than discussing it. Going forward I would like to receive everything you have prepared at least two days before each meeting - that becomes our new standard. For meeting three on Monday first June, that means materials in my inbox by Saturday thirtieth May at the latest. This isn't bureaucracy; it's what allows the hour we have together to be a real conversation rather than a first read-through.
Below: what I took away from the meeting, the strategic shift you proposed and why it matters, my analysis of the materials with a few specific points that I think will sharpen the project considerably, what I'd like to see at meeting three, and the updated meeting calendar.
The shift you proposed: three days to one day
The shift you proposed: three days to one day
The strongest moment of the meeting was not a piece of finished work - it was an idea. You came in and proposed reducing the festival from three days to a single day, with two architectural options: one stage or three stages, the three stages mapped onto the three goddesses (Isis, Hathor, Bastet) as distinct genre/curatorial worlds. That decision didn't come from me. It came from you, during your preparation, and I want to be explicit that I think it is the right direction.