Life has taken me to many parts of England, and I have it in mind that there aren't many large towns or cities that I haven't visited at one time or another. Blackpool, perhaps surprisingly, is one. Hereford is another. Oh, and Ludlow. And you can understand why those particular places when I tell you that I'm based down here in the south. It's not that I have anything against northerners or westeners, it's just that you're a little bit off my beaten tracks.
But the one place that passed me by until very recently - or vice versa - was Leicester. Quite why, I don't know. But I was there last week to have a look at Chien-Wei Chang's exhibition - the one I told you about yesterday. And with 40 minutes or so to spare, I also had time to have a quick scoot around the city centre. Or what, to judge by the signposting, was presenting itself as the city centre. I must admit it didn't seem like a centre to me, but perhaps I'd just managed not to turn the right corners, as it were. But I was left with two very distinct impressions: one, that a certain section of Leicester folk are on more than nodding terms with the concept of heavy alcohol consumption at the cheapest possible price; and two, that Leicester isn't quite certain which century it really wants to belong to (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
But there are hidden gems amongst all that, of that I'm sure. And I discovered one of them alongside Chang-Wei's exhibition: the gallery devoted to Picasso's ceramics at the New Walk Museum & Art Gallery.
Leicester, I'll be back soon.
We are supposed to be a forward thinking city brimming with talent and culture. In reality, as you spotted, we are a confused place with no sense of direction. I've lived in Leicester all my life. I love the place, but I'm not sure why.
Posted by: Andy Rudkin | 08 March 2012 at 08:13 PM