The past week at mooch

I was standing in front of a small crowd introducing John Robb who was to unveil the portrait painted by Sarah Mayhew by pulling on the red silky material. Normally I'm okay getting up in front of people and speaking but the past couple of times have been slightly awkward. I said something along the lines of "So let me pass you over to John who's going to tug on the ermmm.. errr thing. My poor brain was struggling to come up with a word that sounded better than "sheet" but I ended up just looking a bit simple. Channel M were filming so it was caught for posterity.

Thursday night was preview night again. If you haven't been before it's when we unveil lots of new artwork, invite the artists/art lovers along and generally have a bit of a celebration of their work over some food and wine. It's all relaxed and mainly a chance to chat to the artist and have first dibs on the artwork on offer. Its one of the slightly frustrating things about an artists collection that there are some pieces that can be sold 5 times over. When it concerns original art you get few chances to bag the popular pieces. If you're lucky I will come over and put my foot in my mouth.

This past week has been a really busy time at mooch. Yesterday we had the EDL (english defence league) parading around Manchester. These guys weren't out for a cup of tea and a gentle stroll around the city centre. The pub opposite the Oldham street gallery was the gathering point for a big group that attracted an equivalent number of policemen. 4 vans, 4 mounted horsemen and another 7 police officers (one with video camera) had things pretty much under control. There was a huge amount of tension mostly because the the EDLs rivals the UAF (United against facism) decided to mount a counter march. The stand off was in Piccadilly gardens and there was a very strange atmosphere in the city.

I shut a little early but otherwise all was good. If anyone came to the gallery to find it closed, I apologise but didn't fancy having a run in with a fascist nutter. The city is back to normal now and the area isn't dangerous. I just hope the EDL don't make a habit of doing this sort of thing.