0:00:05 > 0:00:06Take this island like a dose of medicine
0:00:10 > 0:00:13To heal your centuries of wandering
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Find yourself here as if in a dream
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Emerging from the mists of afternoon thunderstorms
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Waterfalls pound your head into shape
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Let the sea beat your longing out of you
0:00:44 > 0:00:46But you sense spirits here
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Restless spirits to whom no priest or pundit bid farewell
0:00:55 > 0:00:56You have not forgotten them
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Like the names of your ancestors
0:00:59 > 0:01:03Strange names of disparate tongues from far-flung places
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Let this island medicine intoxicate you
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Let the liquor dance a spirit dance in your veins
0:01:24 > 0:01:25It is Paradise lost
0:01:29 > 0:01:31A paradise of loss
0:01:32 > 0:01:35This is where you come to find yourself
0:01:35 > 0:01:37This is where much has disappeared
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Into the forest, into the cane fields
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Among the lost things of this island, find yourself whole again.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57For over a decade the British artist Chris Ofili
0:01:57 > 0:02:01has made the Caribbean island of Trinidad his home.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05For me, one of the attractive things about Trinidad is
0:02:05 > 0:02:07it's still quite mysterious.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11I've been there for 12 years
0:02:11 > 0:02:16and it still feels like it's brand-new.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19Completely starting again
0:02:19 > 0:02:23and creatively
0:02:23 > 0:02:24wide open.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31From his explosive early works featuring riotous colours,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34collage and, infamously, elephant dung,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Chris Ofili has always pushed the possibilities of painting.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46But his time in Trinidad has been a creative rebirth.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51There's so much of it and it's so powerful -
0:02:51 > 0:02:53the density of the forest...
0:02:54 > 0:02:56..the depth of the ocean...
0:02:58 > 0:03:00..the beauty on the surface...
0:03:03 > 0:03:06It's just a very kind of painterly island.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13One of my challenges, it feels,
0:03:13 > 0:03:18is to find a way to bring those elements together
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and for them to coexist
0:03:21 > 0:03:24but still be themselves,
0:03:24 > 0:03:25still have that character.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31His latest project attempts just this.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35It's a remarkable collaboration, a giant tapestry,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39almost three metres high and over seven metres wide,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42that is centrepiece of a new Ofili exhibition
0:03:42 > 0:03:44at the National Gallery in London.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Created alongside a team of master weavers,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56it's taken nearly three years to complete.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08The result is a magical piece
0:04:08 > 0:04:12that weaves together the sights and sounds of Trinidad...
0:04:14 > 0:04:18..with nods to both the classical world and, unexpectedly,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21the Italian footballer Mario Balotelli.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29And he's called it The Caged Bird's Song.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36It brings to mind the idea of the question of sweetness of the song.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38BIRD SINGS
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Is the sweeter song the song of the uncaged bird
0:04:45 > 0:04:48or the song of the caged bird?
0:04:48 > 0:04:56And what that really is asking about liberation and constraint
0:04:56 > 0:05:00and how that could potentially relate to...
0:05:01 > 0:05:02..being human.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24The story begins four and a half thousand miles away from Trinidad...
0:05:26 > 0:05:27..in Edinburgh.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37This former Victorian swimming baths is home to Dovecot Studios,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40one of the world's leading creators of hand-woven tapestries.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48Back in 2013, the studio was approached by the Clothworkers,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52a London livery company with a rich textile history,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54who were looking to make a bold new commission.
0:05:59 > 0:06:05We were hoping for a contemporary, a modern, vibrant tapestry,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and we were looking for an established,
0:06:07 > 0:06:08outstanding British artist.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Dovecot came up with a short list, and then,
0:06:14 > 0:06:21when we found that Chris was very keen to experiment outside his usual
0:06:21 > 0:06:24field, to go in to tapestry, we were absolutely delighted.
0:06:27 > 0:06:34The Clothworkers wrote and asked if I would consider making a tapestry
0:06:34 > 0:06:36for their dining hall.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40Which, to me, at the time, seemed like a commission.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Which is something that I would normally run away from
0:06:43 > 0:06:47because I felt that the fear is that they would want to have a say in
0:06:47 > 0:06:48what I produce.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Which, I think...
0:06:52 > 0:06:56raised a level of anxiety that I didn't really want to take on.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01So I think I sent back a number of, like, questions
0:07:01 > 0:07:04and they were pretty much a list of things I wasn't going to do, like
0:07:04 > 0:07:06I didn't want to see where it was going to go,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08I didn't want to meet them.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11and I didn't want to have a conversation about content.
0:07:11 > 0:07:12That's rather brilliant!
0:07:12 > 0:07:15On every front, you just nixed them.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Yeah, and they were like, "Yeah, that's no problem. No problem. No problem."
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Then I got more suspicious.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24I thought, no, now they've agreed to everything,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26that means that they've got something up their sleeve.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34The way that Chris works with colours really is fascinating,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37and we thought that would very much fulfil the bill.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40We wanted a Chris Ofili piece, we wanted him to be happy.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48At home in Trinidad, Ofili created a vibrant design for the tapestry -
0:07:48 > 0:07:53a triptych, painted - rather mischievously - in watercolour.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58I thought about watercolour,
0:07:58 > 0:08:03because the subject is pretty much about water and fluidity.
0:08:03 > 0:08:09And I also thought it would be funny to see if the weavers could actually
0:08:09 > 0:08:10weave... Water. ..water.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14So I found myself making a watercolour
0:08:14 > 0:08:17and trying to release the pigment even more,
0:08:17 > 0:08:22and almost giggling at the fact that it was almost impossible for them to
0:08:22 > 0:08:23achieve it.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26There's no way they're going to be able to do this.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30So... Let's just sit back and watch.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33But when I came with the watercolour
0:08:33 > 0:08:39and met them, they had a kind of solidity to them, and a confidence,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42a creative confidence, about their own process.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Thankfully, they were really open to the challenge of it.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46And also open to the mystery
0:08:46 > 0:08:48as to whether or not they could achieve it.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56For the weavers, it was a major undertaking.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58To create a tapestry of this size
0:08:58 > 0:09:02and complexity would take years of their lives.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04An investment of thousands of hours.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Haven't you chosen something quite challenging?
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Because watercolours must be incredibly difficult to weave and to
0:09:12 > 0:09:16do as tapestries. Yes, I agree.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18The watercolour is, like, multi-layered, so you're often
0:09:18 > 0:09:23looking at the colours underneath to come up through, as well.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Rather than just a block of colour.
0:09:25 > 0:09:26So mixing is very important.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38They want... They did a colour strip, wove it in front of me,
0:09:38 > 0:09:44and they started to put together threads to make that turquoise fizz
0:09:44 > 0:09:48in front of my eyes, when you look at it as a solid colour.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51And I realised that was completely different to my understanding of it.
0:09:51 > 0:09:57And so I felt as though I could just let go and float with this process.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04These are the bobbins that we use for weaving with.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08If you're wanting to weave something that looks all the same colour,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11but you don't want it to look flat like cardboard,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14you would make a mix with very close colours,
0:10:14 > 0:10:18and then it would just gently look like the same colour.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26If you twist it like that,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29you get more of an idea of what it's going to weave up like.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32So these are more subtle, different variations of these colours.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34I can see these... That's right, yes.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38I think we lifted the colour from the original image.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41But there's almost no pure colour in here, is there?
0:10:41 > 0:10:45It's all a mix... It's all a mix, yes. ..which watercolour is, really.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Absolutely. Making those mixtures means that we can get the subtlety
0:10:49 > 0:10:53and the richness. But it also means that we can blend one colour
0:10:53 > 0:10:56into another to get that... This watercolour effect.
0:10:56 > 0:11:03Watercolour and wool are such completely different materials. Yes!
0:11:05 > 0:11:07He's a master colourist, Chris Ofili, so,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10he wanted to challenge them by using a watercolour pigment,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13which is the most free-flowing of the pigments,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17and so you get this wonderful paradox between this spontaneous,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21very free-flowing artist's medium,
0:11:21 > 0:11:26which then becomes this permanent fixed three-dimensional object
0:11:26 > 0:11:27of a tapestry.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35There is that great variation in the watercolours themselves, very lush,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38and then almost non-colour and the use of charcoal.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40I call them midweek colours.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Midweek colours? Yeah, midweek colours, and the weekend colours are
0:11:43 > 0:11:45the popping colours that you get around.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50On the right-hand side, you've got the male figure carrying a bird cage.
0:11:50 > 0:11:56And he's drawn in charcoal and his clothing is turquoise.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00I remember putting the turquoise down and the colour just suddenly
0:12:00 > 0:12:01started to bleed really quickly.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05I remember thinking, "Oh, no! I've screwed it up!"
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Right? It's out of control.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11And then, I just thought, this is kind of hilarious.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15That they are now going to capture that moment,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17and I still see it when I look at it.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19You're a bit of a sadist, aren't you?
0:12:19 > 0:12:22No! No! I think it was just to see if...
0:12:24 > 0:12:27It was a way of trying to have a dialogue, really.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35So, what of the actual narrative within Ofili's tapestry design?
0:12:35 > 0:12:39Both the glowing colour palette and much of its imagery draws
0:12:39 > 0:12:44inspiration from his adopted island home of Trinidad.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Including that of the caged bird.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51I could go into full investigation
0:12:51 > 0:12:55and try and get to the bottom of the caged-bird phenomenon.
0:12:55 > 0:12:56But I like...
0:12:56 > 0:12:58I like to almost observe it from a distance.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02You could be running around the Savanna,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05and somebody would come towards you, walking,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and they're carrying a little bird in a cage.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11Then you can go to these competitions, which is like
0:13:11 > 0:13:17a kind of orchestra of little birds in cages, singing, you know.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21In the mornings in Trinidad, there's incredible birdsong.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24BIRDSONG
0:13:28 > 0:13:32Keeping songbirds is a surprisingly macho subculture on the island.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38The birds are fed a local seed grass, known as crab eye,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42to help them perform to the best of their abilities.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49I grew up here and my grandfather used to mine then, my father,
0:13:49 > 0:13:54and now I have them. I inherit some of them even from my grandfather.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56These birds live long.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59These birds live up to 30, 35 years.
0:13:59 > 0:14:00Human years.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02In a cage.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The notes of the birds singing is just pleasing to my ear.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11When I listen to my birds, I have to play music, I like that song.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12It's...
0:14:16 > 0:14:18We just love the birds.
0:14:18 > 0:14:19It's all about the birds.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27I haven't, to this day, got myself my own caged bird.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30But every time I go to somebody's home and I see one there on the porch,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33I do think it's a beautiful thing to be able to have around.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Some of the songs of these caged birds are just...
0:14:39 > 0:14:42..divine. Really, really divine.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44So sweet.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49And they really just kind of captivate you and throw you
0:14:49 > 0:14:52into another kind of world, really.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56MUSIC: You're Goin' Miss Your Candyman by Terry Callier
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Chris, he appreciates what we have here.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13This place is just such a rich bed for anyone who wants to study
0:15:13 > 0:15:16culture and people
0:15:16 > 0:15:21and the various nuances associated with such, you know?
0:15:21 > 0:15:26Especially those who have a particular creative energy.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27I think it's very...
0:15:28 > 0:15:31..very inspiring. Very inspiring.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41The natural world has been a huge source of delight for him,
0:15:41 > 0:15:46and you really see this in the works that he made since he moved to Trinidad.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51There's a tropical world, the colours are more vivid.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54The birds sing more loudly.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56You know, the sun shines more brightly.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03He's not the only artist to have moved to that kind of
0:16:03 > 0:16:05island paradise in the past.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20And I think it's inevitable that what you see around you becomes...
0:16:20 > 0:16:23becomes part of the landscape, becomes part of your repertoire.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29One of the interesting things about
0:16:29 > 0:16:34a great artist is that they often make a story their own.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36And you can see Chris doing that.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43You know, what you're looking at, really, in the tapestry,
0:16:43 > 0:16:48is what could be seen as a curtain being pulled back for a brief moment.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51And what's happening behind the curtain.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54And then when the curtain closes again,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57the man holding the caged bird, the lady holding the bird seed
0:16:57 > 0:16:59continue back on their journey.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04But just to try to understand the journey you went on, this is,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07in the end, one image, but you went through
0:17:07 > 0:17:09lots and lots of different stages.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11You didn't just arrive at that idea.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14There was a point at which I was quite clear on what the image was
0:17:14 > 0:17:17going to be. But I wanted to be able to render it with ease.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22And so, in order to do that, you kind of have to go through a few
0:17:22 > 0:17:25different iterations, really, of the same thing.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30To see what happens when a curve moves left instead of right,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34or a stroke is done from the bottom up, or the top down.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36And it's just to see which flows better.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39The fluidity is also part of the process of making,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42not only just the image itself.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52The sense of flow and the presence of water is everywhere in Ofili's
0:17:52 > 0:17:55early designs for the piece.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05A couple sit by a waterfall with a river swirling around them.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14The man is busy serenading, while the woman sips a cocktail.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23And the cocktail is being poured by a strange, abstracted figure,
0:18:23 > 0:18:28based on an image of the Italian footballer Mario Balotelli in tears.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34So, Chris, where does it all begin with Mario?
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Um... I was interested in the fact that maybe the tears,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41his tears, could become part of the cocktail. Ah!
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Yeah, that there's this kind of deep underlying sadness to him
0:18:45 > 0:18:49that's being transferred into this potion, or drink.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56But, in this case, I wanted to really collage the image that I was
0:18:56 > 0:18:58working from, staple it on.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03For it to be there, still in its raw state.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05And later, it became these drawings.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10This watercolour, as well.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Using Mario Balotelli as a muse
0:19:17 > 0:19:20connects various threads in Ofili's own story.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Born and raised in Manchester to Nigerian parents,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Chris's explorations of race and Afro identity -
0:19:30 > 0:19:32both playful and serious -
0:19:32 > 0:19:35have always been a distinctive feature of his work.
0:19:50 > 0:19:51In 1998,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54he won the Turner Prize for paintings
0:19:54 > 0:19:58that included a poignant depiction of Doreen Lawrence,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01grieving her son Stephen's brutal murder.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09For me, it's about trying to make a painting about tremendous loss.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16I mean, I focused on the image that was strongest to me,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18which was of Doreen, his mother, crying.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24And that just seemed like such a powerful image.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28When I finished the painting it felt like that raw emotion, that sorrow,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30it felt like that was actually in the room.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39As for Balotelli, the son of Ghanaian immigrants to Sicily,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42he was later fostered by an Italian family.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48But his footballing gifts are often overshadowed by his own volatile
0:20:48 > 0:20:51reputation, and racism within the game.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02I'm a Manchester United supporter.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04He played for Man City.
0:21:04 > 0:21:10So...I can't, in my heart, say that I think he's a wonderful footballer.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Because he's wearing the wrong-colour shirt.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16But I think there are other qualities to him
0:21:16 > 0:21:20that are outside of his abilities as a sportsman.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Qualities that seem much more mythical.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31I think, you know, the fact that he's a black African Italian.
0:21:31 > 0:21:32He is...
0:21:33 > 0:21:37..complex. He is mischievous,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39but also tortured.
0:21:39 > 0:21:45He symbolises the way race plays a part, still, in sport.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49I think he's a maverick, in a way that you don't often get.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55I've worked with images of him before,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58and this is another one, I'm still trying to figure it out.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02It's not... It's not fixed.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05And I think, with him, it's also not fixed.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10So I've cast him in this sense, as a...
0:22:11 > 0:22:12..cocktail waiter.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Which you've done... You've done a bit of cocktail...
0:22:17 > 0:22:18Yeah, I've done that, too.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23Yeah. I like that idea of almost being in disguise, really.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27But you're also able to take on another personality
0:22:27 > 0:22:28or another persona.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Is that because when you were doing it you were trying
0:22:31 > 0:22:33to kind of get a glimpse of the world as it was,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35and so you were out there...?
0:22:35 > 0:22:38See it differently, yeah. To try and see things differently momentarily.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40And not be yourself.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45And to play the part thoroughly.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47You get to see something else.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49You know. There are, you know...
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Let's just say there are great cocktail waiters in the world.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55There must be something other than just mixing drinks.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58You might get to see people...
0:22:59 > 0:23:00..differently.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Adopting masks and alternative personas
0:23:13 > 0:23:16has deep cultural roots in Trinidad.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Much of the island's multicultural population is the colonial legacy.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34Generations of African slaves and indentured Indian labourers
0:23:34 > 0:23:37toiled on its sugar and cocoa plantations.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44When we think about the Amerindians who lived here...
0:23:45 > 0:23:48..that this place was based...
0:23:50 > 0:23:53..and constructed, if you want, on their slaughter.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59You know, an African enslavement.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Indian indenture.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03And these are things which
0:24:03 > 0:24:05we have to look at,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07to see where we go from there.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Trinidad's annual carnival is a visceral celebration
0:24:24 > 0:24:26that emerged from slave rebellion.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40When rebellion is put down, as most of them have been...
0:24:41 > 0:24:44..the ideas that people
0:24:44 > 0:24:48revolt on behalf of, or against, do not disappear.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54The people's attitude to these things also doesn't disappear.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Right? What happens is that this moves into the culture.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09And that is why art and culture functions in
0:25:09 > 0:25:11such subversive ways in a kind of way,
0:25:11 > 0:25:16because you're looking for them to frontally to be saying one thing,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19and then they are saying something else, you know?
0:25:33 > 0:25:37It's a very interesting thing about our Carnival, we have, like,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39this whole pantheon of devils.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44In our mythology we have so many shape shifters.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48You know, there are so many characters that change perspective,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50and change their outward appearance
0:25:50 > 0:25:52to achieve certain things.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00When you put on a costume, especially a blue devil,
0:26:00 > 0:26:02you become uninhibited.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05You know what I mean? Your energy is raw.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09It's raw. You kind of cast away your inhibitions.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12And as we say in Trinidad, you are free of yourself.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14It's flowing, and it's free.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I don't know, maybe that's part of what Chris
0:26:17 > 0:26:20experiences here. A certain level of freedom.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42The thing about Chris is that he... He disappears in a place like this.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45He doesn't stand out, in that sense.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49His blackness includes him in the society,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52in a way that if he was a white artist, he would not.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59His otherness is different here than it would be in England.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06For somebody who is a transplant from somewhere else,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10but a transplant from somewhere else that he doesn't know at all,
0:27:10 > 0:27:11there is a kind of...
0:27:13 > 0:27:14..familiarity about the place.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22The mythology, the history,
0:27:22 > 0:27:27the fact that Trinidad's full of people with different histories,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30did you just somehow absorb that and then sort of
0:27:30 > 0:27:33filter it into your story?
0:27:33 > 0:27:36I think it's an ongoing process.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38I mean, I think, for me,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41one of the attractive things about Trinidad is that it's still quite
0:27:41 > 0:27:46mysterious. And you think you are going in one direction,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48and you realise you're actually not going in that direction.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52If anything, it's kind of kept things open.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54And allowed...
0:27:56 > 0:28:01..it to feel... To still feel like life is still being collaged
0:28:01 > 0:28:03together as I go along.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Meanwhile, bringing Ofili's watercolour design to life
0:28:11 > 0:28:14remains a daunting task for the weavers.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18And yet, the whole art of tapestry-making
0:28:18 > 0:28:21is incredibly exacting, and labour-intensive.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28For centuries, tapestries were cherished for these very reasons.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33They were to the north of Europe what fresco was to the south.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38Vast projections of power, wealth and sophistication.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Henry VIII's personal collection
0:28:44 > 0:28:47would have stretched three miles if laid end to end.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53But the intricate processes involved in creating tapestry have changed
0:28:53 > 0:28:54very little over the years.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Everything has to be made from scratch,
0:28:58 > 0:29:03and Ofili's original watercolours dramatically scaled up.
0:29:03 > 0:29:04One of the reasons we were really
0:29:04 > 0:29:06looking forward to working with Chris
0:29:06 > 0:29:12after his work doing some set designs of backdrops for a ballet,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15we thought that he can imagine his work on that sort of scale.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20And so we knew that they would work well.
0:29:20 > 0:29:21That's your photocopy, is it?
0:29:21 > 0:29:23That's a photocopy, yes.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27You can see at the bottom it says, "Please enlarge by 877%."
0:29:28 > 0:29:32So from that we get a line drawing that we call the cartoon -
0:29:32 > 0:29:34so you can see these lines here -
0:29:34 > 0:29:36which is quite a laborious process.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38Is it? Why is that?
0:29:38 > 0:29:42Each mark has to be made not just on the front of
0:29:42 > 0:29:45the warp thread but also all the way round.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47Wow. I can see what you mean.
0:29:47 > 0:29:48So this could take weeks!
0:29:52 > 0:29:55And we're looking at the lines that are actually on the warps.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59We are constantly referring back to the image with the small cartoon
0:29:59 > 0:30:02sitting over the top. Already from this conversation,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05I can see how exhausting this must be.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10You've got to work systematically through the image.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14At the back of the tapestry here,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16you can see as the tapestry is woven,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19it's rolled down onto this bottom roller.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23So these are sections which have already been woven.
0:30:23 > 0:30:24Oh, that's beautiful.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28Then, once it's rolled down,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32we won't see that again until the tapestry is cut off the loom.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Over the 2? years that we've been talking and working
0:30:49 > 0:30:54together, what I've observed is that they weave their lives and
0:30:54 > 0:30:57their souls into the work,
0:30:57 > 0:31:01so it's not something that you can just sit around knitting,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04chewing gum and watching daytime TV at the same time.
0:31:04 > 0:31:09You really have to be engaged fully, but also in some ways...
0:31:10 > 0:31:13..quite detached, you know.
0:31:13 > 0:31:14Because you can't...
0:31:14 > 0:31:16I mean, when they're doing it, they're doing it...
0:31:17 > 0:31:21..an inch at a time, or whatever it is that they are able to do it.
0:31:21 > 0:31:22Yeah. It's millions of decisions.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26I know, and yet, you can't see the whole, so the emotional engagement...
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Yeah. ..which goes into it and which you can see in the result...
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Yeah, yeah. ..is all the more surprising.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Yeah, because there were passages in there where they may be in a kind of
0:31:38 > 0:31:42meditation on greys and greens for three weeks
0:31:42 > 0:31:47and then it shifts all of a sudden to a violet or a turquoise
0:31:47 > 0:31:50and I know that at those moments,
0:31:50 > 0:31:56they're almost like kind of woken from reverie or a dream and, like,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58you know - is this too much?
0:31:58 > 0:32:00You know, is the shift too drastic?
0:32:00 > 0:32:01What happened?
0:32:01 > 0:32:05And I think that comes out of not being able to see the image.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09It's just suddenly, there's a kind of jarring.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12At the centre of this is this sort of magician figure.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15It's something very playful about it but also very mysterious.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18You don't know quite, that pouring of a cocktail,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21you don't know where it's going to go. It's green, yeah.
0:32:21 > 0:32:22It's a green cocktail.
0:32:22 > 0:32:28It's unknown if it's poison or if it's enhancing.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30It's falling, as well,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33so she's unaware that it's falling into the glass.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37She's listening to the music.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Yeah. Yeah. She's listening to music.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42The guy's playing some beautiful music by the waterfall.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44And she's drinking a cocktail.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47I like the idea that in the foreground,
0:32:47 > 0:32:53you can almost feel the spray from the waterfall on their faces. Yeah.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59When you get a bubbly cocktail,
0:32:59 > 0:33:01you get the bubbles that go on your face,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03just as you drink the first sip.
0:33:03 > 0:33:11It's a wonderful moment of a couple in their own joyous world.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17It's a tropical Adam and Eve on an island paradise,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20so it's a kind of vision of Arcadia.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24It's a vision of paradise, but a temporary...
0:33:24 > 0:33:27It's a temporary state and it's as though there's a darkening to come.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32When you see Arcadian visions
0:33:32 > 0:33:34in paintings of the past,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37whether by Cezanne or going all the way back to Titian,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41often it's a vision which is somehow threatened.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49There is something on the horizon which suggests it is changing,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52something is about to happen, something is about to take place.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55They're exposed. The curtain's been pulled back
0:33:55 > 0:33:57and they're not aware and also,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00there's something being added to the mix.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06But also in the distance,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08there's this brooding storm that's approaching.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13THUNDER RUMBLES
0:34:16 > 0:34:19Trinidad is a land of extremes.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22You know, extreme beauty,
0:34:22 > 0:34:26but we also have an extreme ugliness, too.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29We have a current situation that we need to address.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34I work for the government
0:34:34 > 0:34:39and primarily, it's a programme that, you know, does social outreach
0:34:39 > 0:34:44and community organising within high-needs communities
0:34:44 > 0:34:49and get them to address the risk factors that,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52you know, that contribute to the crime and violence within
0:34:52 > 0:34:55the communities, with the aim of obviously reducing it and preventing
0:34:55 > 0:34:57it as much as we can.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08It's a kind of paradise that is not without problems.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12It is riddled with problems but, for me, that makes it -
0:35:12 > 0:35:15dare I say? - more attractive,
0:35:15 > 0:35:17because you're looking at the kind of reality.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19It's not hidden away.
0:35:19 > 0:35:20It's truth.
0:35:23 > 0:35:29At times, it's almost too true, you know - newspaper photography
0:35:29 > 0:35:33really spells out what happened when that person was murdered.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35You could be sat looking at the most beautiful rolling hills in
0:35:35 > 0:35:38the background as the same time as looking at, you know,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40the daily news, which is harrowing at times.
0:35:42 > 0:35:43# Me and the devil
0:35:46 > 0:35:49# Walking side by side
0:35:53 > 0:35:55# Me and the devil
0:35:58 > 0:36:00# Walking side by side. #
0:36:08 > 0:36:10I think it is a place of extremes.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12In some ways, it seems very industrial.
0:36:12 > 0:36:17There is oil and natural gas and the processing of, so you get...
0:36:17 > 0:36:19You feel as though you're not in a tropical island,
0:36:19 > 0:36:25you're actually in an industrial island and then, within 20 minutes,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28you can be in a forest
0:36:28 > 0:36:31and have no feeling of that whatsoever.
0:36:31 > 0:36:32And shortly after,
0:36:32 > 0:36:37you can be right on the coast line and be, like, experiencing your own
0:36:37 > 0:36:39fragility and feeling terrified,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42in the waves and seeing, like, you know,
0:36:42 > 0:36:48the force of swells and see the way light has an effect on the movement
0:36:48 > 0:36:52of water and it can be very, very beautiful but very raw.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59I mean, Chris is a guy, you know, since I've met him, really and
0:36:59 > 0:37:05truly, he loves the sea, the river, the waterfalls,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08you know, going into the bush, he has his hunting dogs.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11He doesn't necessarily hunt, but he has hunting dogs that he takes into
0:37:11 > 0:37:15the tracks and stuff quite regularly, you know.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18And he goes, he'll go by himself with his dogs, you know,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22so it's not even to say it's a social thing.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26It's just to reconnect and stay connected to that source.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30He most probably knows the island better than a lot of locals,
0:37:30 > 0:37:32to be quite honest.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41You don't see colours like this anywhere else.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44As far as I know, Chris actually works with
0:37:44 > 0:37:49those people who make paint, to get the specific colour, you know.
0:38:00 > 0:38:01You know,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04he's very nerdy about things like that, you know, it's like...
0:38:04 > 0:38:08It's like, "Yeah, yeah, just got this, like this
0:38:08 > 0:38:10"really specific blue."
0:38:10 > 0:38:13You know, it's, "Yeah, cool, OK!"
0:38:15 > 0:38:16Yeah.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21The landscape deserves that attention,
0:38:21 > 0:38:24so they're well suited to each other, Chris and the landscape.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39# Can you feel a little love?
0:38:42 > 0:38:46# Can you feel a little love? #
0:38:50 > 0:38:53Places that I've gone to, like various waterfalls,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57it serves me best to visit and revisit and revisit and revisit,
0:38:57 > 0:39:01whereas I think in other instances,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03you feel as though you can get it the first time.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06# Oh, shame upon the universe It knows its lines... #
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Maybe a bit like a waterfall,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12this kind of never-ending process that it never quite is the same.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19And maybe what I'm really talking about is the power of nature,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22rather than just us as human beings.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24# You party for a living
0:39:24 > 0:39:25# What you take won't kill you
0:39:25 > 0:39:28# But careful what you're giving... #
0:39:28 > 0:39:31This hunting, this is part of what you're doing.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33You're looking, you're seeing.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35Yeah. Your mood is changing.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38You're seeing things from a different perspective all the time.
0:39:38 > 0:39:39Yeah, yeah. It's conscious, yeah.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42I'm consciously going to
0:39:42 > 0:39:44be inspired by something.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50# Dream on, dream on... #
0:39:55 > 0:40:00For me, one of the very intriguing and beguiling things about him as an
0:40:00 > 0:40:06artist is his willingness to take his painting into other areas and to
0:40:06 > 0:40:11adapt his style to meet different needs and different requirements.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17Many of the artists who hang on the walls of the National Gallery -
0:40:17 > 0:40:21Goya, Rubens, Bronzino, Pisanello - many,
0:40:21 > 0:40:25many of these artists have in the past designed for tapestry,
0:40:25 > 0:40:29and so by placing Chris Ofili in this context,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32he becomes part of the tapestry tradition.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35This wonderful tradition
0:40:35 > 0:40:38that has been going on for centuries.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43It's taken 29 months,
0:40:43 > 0:40:48over 6,000 hours of endeavour and 35 kilos of wool,
0:40:48 > 0:40:50but the weavers' work
0:40:50 > 0:40:51is done.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56Their final act, weaving their initials
0:40:56 > 0:41:00alongside Chris's into the fabric of the tapestry.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06All that remains is for the last section to be freed from the loom in
0:41:06 > 0:41:09a traditional ceremony called the cutting off.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14This phrase - the cutting off - today is the cutting off -
0:41:14 > 0:41:18it's a startling phrase anyway, but what's it mean?
0:41:18 > 0:41:20I guess
0:41:20 > 0:41:24the thought is that it's quite final and after that,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27there's very little you can do to change the outcome and all of our
0:41:27 > 0:41:29efforts have already happened.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34There's a sense of relief as well sometimes that that's it finished.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Yeah. And it is what it is now.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39And how are you feeling about Chris Ofili turning up today?
0:41:40 > 0:41:42Maybe slightly nervous, but...
0:41:43 > 0:41:48I think his incredible positivity about what we're doing and the way
0:41:48 > 0:41:53we've done it and... It reaffirms that we're translating his image in
0:41:53 > 0:41:55a way that he's really pleased with.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58What's your life going to be like without this?
0:41:58 > 0:42:01I don't know, cos it's etched so deeply in there now.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08Good to see you.
0:42:08 > 0:42:09Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Exciting moment. Absolutely.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Thanks, first, Chris, to you.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22I wonder whether I might just paraphrase and I don't know whether
0:42:22 > 0:42:25I'll get this right, but it was a Herman Hesse quote -
0:42:25 > 0:42:29"In new beginnings dwells a magic force."
0:42:29 > 0:42:34And I think we really sensed that there was a magic force, Chris,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37the first day that you came to this studio
0:42:37 > 0:42:40and took time to talk with the weaving team,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43to talk tapestry and to explore ideas,
0:42:43 > 0:42:48and so that magic force seems to have gone on through the three years
0:42:48 > 0:42:51of this project. And so how appropriate, of course,
0:42:51 > 0:42:53that the exhibition in the National Gallery
0:42:53 > 0:42:55should be called Weaving Magic.
0:43:00 > 0:43:01That's it.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15Like it, nice confidence.
0:43:15 > 0:43:16Yeah, let's get this over with.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Today will be the very first time anyone has seen the final panel.
0:43:45 > 0:43:46Here.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50You do that, cut the last one. This last bit? Yeah.
0:43:55 > 0:43:56APPLAUSE
0:44:34 > 0:44:37And all three sections of the finished tapestry
0:44:37 > 0:44:41can now be revealed as one unified work of art.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:44:52 > 0:44:53When you saw it today...
0:44:53 > 0:44:55Mm.
0:44:55 > 0:44:56..what impact did it have on you?
0:44:56 > 0:44:58What did you make of it?
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Spellbinding was a word that came to mind.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04There is a kind of magic in it, really.
0:45:04 > 0:45:09I know how it's been made and I understand it, but still,
0:45:09 > 0:45:13you know, still, you're looking at it, you're like, hang on a minute.
0:45:14 > 0:45:19That's a pool of pigment that's been rendered in...
0:45:19 > 0:45:22in wool. But it's still a pool of pigment.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24They still managed to maintain those qualities.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44One of the astonishing things about seeing
0:45:44 > 0:45:46a contemporary tapestry is
0:45:46 > 0:45:50its colour, because historic tapestries, they fade, they're very,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53very susceptible to the effects of light, particularly blue colours,
0:45:53 > 0:45:59so it's very unusual to see a historic tapestry with any blue in
0:45:59 > 0:46:01it and Chris Ofili's tapestry is full of blue,
0:46:01 > 0:46:06so I think that the colour will amaze people.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09The depth of colour - and I don't think anyone had any idea
0:46:09 > 0:46:13of the pinks, the kind of rose-tinted yellows
0:46:13 > 0:46:16that suddenly came out in that third panel.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25I mean, the story of making this tapestry is the story of many,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27many people's hard work.
0:46:29 > 0:46:35It is extraordinary to see an object that has taken almost three years to
0:46:35 > 0:46:37make, five people,
0:46:37 > 0:46:42often three of them sitting at the loom at the same time.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44It's that collaborative,
0:46:44 > 0:46:49collective act and it's the quality of human time which I think is
0:46:49 > 0:46:52embedded into the tapestry
0:46:52 > 0:46:55and I think is one of the reasons why it is
0:46:55 > 0:46:57such an alluring object to look at.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12For his National Gallery exhibition, Chris Ofili, the master conjuror,
0:47:12 > 0:47:14has one final flourish up his sleeve.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21In a complete transformation of the gallery's Sunley Room,
0:47:21 > 0:47:24he's worked with scenic painters from the Royal Opera House
0:47:24 > 0:47:26to adorn every inch of wall space
0:47:26 > 0:47:31with a towering frieze of androgynous dancing figures.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38When I decided that I was going to paint the room with this imagery,
0:47:38 > 0:47:45I still never knew how it was going to relate to the colour decisions
0:47:45 > 0:47:49that we made in the tapestry and, in a way, that excited me,
0:47:49 > 0:47:53because I was really anxious to know if that was going to work.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59The only thing missing is the tapestry itself.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02To mark the occasion,
0:48:02 > 0:48:04Chris has brought his kids along for the install.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35He's a very good decision-maker.
0:48:35 > 0:48:41He holds back but he knows when he needs to make a decision and he
0:48:41 > 0:48:43always makes a good one.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46Where was it... Yeah, do you want to put it there, then?
0:49:00 > 0:49:03Let's just lower it. Let's just see the hands. Just lower your side.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Oh, right.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12Is it heavy? It's fine. Yeah? Yeah.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21Hanging giant tapestries, though, is harder than it looks.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29Yeah. Are you happy?
0:49:29 > 0:49:30Yeah, thank you. That's brilliant.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50BIRDSONG AND MUSIC
0:50:20 > 0:50:21So how does it feel, Chris?
0:50:22 > 0:50:26Every time I come in, I'm still a bit, like,
0:50:26 > 0:50:30"Wow! What's going on here?" Still trying to figure it out.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35I enjoy the grisaille of the walls and then this popping out of colour.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40The whole room and the images contained within the room
0:50:40 > 0:50:41feel like a dream state.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48I must say, it's hallucinogenic.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50Yes, it is, yes.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53It is. I could end up being a little unstable.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:50:55 > 0:50:56Yeah, you step back, you know...
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Whoa, it's a lot!
0:51:09 > 0:51:12What are you expecting, what are you hoping for from the public
0:51:12 > 0:51:15when they actually come and see this for the first time?
0:51:15 > 0:51:19I hope in some ways that the people visiting
0:51:19 > 0:51:25can almost approach this in a similar way that the weavers did,
0:51:25 > 0:51:29that they can find an opportunity in being in this room,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33to immerse themselves somehow in the work.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38WOMAN: My first feeling was, "Wow!"
0:51:40 > 0:51:41The colours are just amazing.
0:51:43 > 0:51:44I love the feel of it.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50MAN: It's just a really sort of stunning but subtle effect.
0:51:51 > 0:51:52I don't know how they did it.
0:51:54 > 0:52:01And what's this mysterious liquid, flowing into her cocktail glass?
0:52:03 > 0:52:05MAN: It looks like he's flowing.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07There's no end to it, really.
0:52:07 > 0:52:08It could go on and on and on.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18Just couldn't actually believe that it was a tapestry.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23The bleed, across in the greens and the purples,
0:52:23 > 0:52:25it just takes your breath away, really.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32I mean, the main feeling that I wanted in coming into the room
0:52:32 > 0:52:36was to give it a kind of temple quality,
0:52:36 > 0:52:42that you are walking into a room that is depicting something that is
0:52:42 > 0:52:44not necessarily of this time and place,
0:52:44 > 0:52:48and that it's a place of worship in some ways,
0:52:48 > 0:52:53but a place of joy and repose in other ways,
0:52:53 > 0:52:58and that the tapestry is the main feature in the room,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01but also is part of this narrative.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03But it's important for me that it's not fixed,
0:53:03 > 0:53:09that somehow the story's got lost in time and that we can bring our own
0:53:09 > 0:53:11meanings to it, a bit like when you
0:53:11 > 0:53:13go and visit ancient spaces elsewhere,
0:53:13 > 0:53:17that you can understand it in terms of its power and what the meaning it
0:53:17 > 0:53:22may have had in the past, but it's not so clear what that is now.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41WOMAN: From afar, you can see all the colours but when you get close,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44you can almost feel the movement of the tapestry,
0:53:44 > 0:53:48you can see the expressions on the people's faces and it's just really
0:53:48 > 0:53:53nice to be able to look and almost, like, wonder what they're thinking.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02No matter how close you get to it, it's still... It's still a mystery.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05Every one of these lines
0:54:05 > 0:54:09is different. Yeah. Because these lines are charcoal and then these,
0:54:09 > 0:54:10these areas here,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12all like little flecks of charcoal
0:54:12 > 0:54:15that's floating in the watercolour and then settle.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Some of the things for me that are arbitrary, for them
0:54:18 > 0:54:20have to be absolutely deliberate
0:54:20 > 0:54:22so the breaking up of a line of charcoal
0:54:22 > 0:54:25when it's magnified - how many times they magnify it -
0:54:25 > 0:54:28become other colours,
0:54:28 > 0:54:30and they have to register everything.
0:54:30 > 0:54:35And in their diligence, they create something completely other.
0:54:35 > 0:54:36And that's where, I think,
0:54:36 > 0:54:40in that gap of their intention and what they achieve,
0:54:40 > 0:54:42that's where the magic occurs.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47In the cloud, that really seems to be a sort of explosive, doesn't it?
0:54:47 > 0:54:49That's what that feels like.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51It feels like it's sort of out of control.
0:54:51 > 0:54:52You can almost hear the rumble.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57WOMAN: You've got that kind of lushness
0:54:57 > 0:55:00but also, the sort of quite stormy skies.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Wonderful contrast.
0:55:02 > 0:55:03Really special.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10When I think of the world we inhabit, everyone will think,
0:55:10 > 0:55:12"Oh, this was done digitally." Yeah.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14Everyone will imagine this was done in that way and it wasn't,
0:55:14 > 0:55:19it was done by hand over days and weeks and months and years.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22I mean, that's what, oddly enough,
0:55:22 > 0:55:24what makes it so mysterious and special.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28I think so. I think something happens creatively when
0:55:28 > 0:55:31human beings don't exclude their soul and spirit
0:55:31 > 0:55:33in the making of something
0:55:33 > 0:55:35and when it's over a long period of time,
0:55:35 > 0:55:39I don't think you can exclude your soul and spirit and you see that
0:55:39 > 0:55:42somehow, that will translate in the work.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44I actually think it's quite an ancient approach,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47because our relationship to time now is changing.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Our emphasis now is on doing things quickly,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52rather than what happens when we do things slowly,
0:55:52 > 0:55:56so I think in terms of making art, though,
0:55:56 > 0:56:00when things are done slowly because they can't be done quickly,
0:56:00 > 0:56:02we get something else.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15Mr Christopher Ofili, for services to art.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21While overseeing the installation of the exhibition,
0:56:21 > 0:56:23Chris has also been honoured with a CBE.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30This is about your role as a British artist,
0:56:30 > 0:56:32an acknowledgement of what you've done.
0:56:32 > 0:56:33How was that? Pretty quick.
0:56:35 > 0:56:36But chatty.
0:56:38 > 0:56:39I just wonder what he said to you.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43You know, once you get anything like a CBE, certainly at that level,
0:56:43 > 0:56:47you have to sign a Official Secrets Act,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50and any conversations with a member of the Royal Family
0:56:50 > 0:56:54falls within that bracket of the Official Secrets Act.
0:56:54 > 0:56:55I can't discuss...
0:56:55 > 0:56:56Oh, you fibber!
0:56:56 > 0:56:58..what we...
0:56:58 > 0:57:00we spoke about.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04He was curious about this, that's coming on.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07So I think he said he might try and take a look.
0:57:07 > 0:57:09It's nice to be recognised for what you do,
0:57:09 > 0:57:11especially if what you do is on your own terms.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13I'm very much a product of the Empire.
0:57:13 > 0:57:19My parents have a British passport as a result of coming from Nigeria.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23And also, my children have British passports through birth but also
0:57:23 > 0:57:26Trinidad was once part of the Empire.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30So, in many ways, I understand that idea of the Empire -
0:57:30 > 0:57:32although there are negative connotations,
0:57:32 > 0:57:34there are also many positive ones.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39It feels good to be a positive product of what we consider to be
0:57:39 > 0:57:41the Empire. Here you are,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45and I see you connected to this and to Trinidad and to Britain,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48to Nigeria and all these other places.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53But also you're connected to Titian and Goya and Rembrandt
0:57:53 > 0:57:57and this great tradition of art and that's obviously important to you.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59I think I would be the first lamb they would slaughter
0:57:59 > 0:58:02if I was in amongst that lot, but... Well, you are amongst that lot.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04They're next door. Yeah, yeah.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07Actually, yeah. Actually it is a privilege to be...
0:58:09 > 0:58:11..looked at by the same eyes, audience,
0:58:11 > 0:58:18that has just looked at a Titian, and I'm happy that I'm not in the same room!
0:58:22 > 0:58:23GUITARS PLAY
0:58:35 > 0:58:37SHE SINGS IN HER OWN LANGUAGE
0:59:31 > 0:59:33Welcome to The Mash Report!
0:59:33 > 0:59:36Madonna has launched her own range of booted orphans.