REVIEW: Imran Perretta: A Riot In Three Acts

On 4 August, 2011, a 29-year-old black man, Mark Duggan, was shot dead by police in Tottenham, London. Duggan’s death sparked a series of riots, beginning in Tottenham, spreading across London and on to other cities in England.

From where he was living at the time, artist Imran Perretta could see the smoke from the burning buildings. Friends of his were caught up, in various capacities, in the rioting. A Riot in Three Acts, originally installed at Somerset House in London, now recreated for the gallery space at HOME in Manchester, is Perretta’s attempt to grapple with the personal, political and social fallout from the events of that August.

The installation, occupies the entire ground floor gallery. It’s on a good scale for the location – not so small as to appear insignificant, nor so large as to overfill the space: “uncomfortable in a brilliant way,” as Perretta describes it. Each of his skills, as artist, filmmaker and composer, is put to work.

Imran Perretta A Riot in Three Acts - (credit Michael Pollard) — Imran Perretta A Riot in Three Acts – (credit Michael Pollard)

The main visual element is a scenic backdrop of Reeves Corner, location of House of Reeves (a local furniture store, owned by the same family for over a century).

We enter looking at the back of the construction – wooden struts and blank canvas – so that the artifice is immediately apparent, but also the viewer must make the choice to proceed. We have to move towards the installation and around it, in order for the subject to be revealed.

This store survived the riots, but the Reeves family’s other establishment was burnt to the ground. Video of this fire is shown on loop, using Perretta’s Blackberry phone (the sight of a Blackberry with all those lovely buttons all but brought a tear to my eye). There is so much to unpack in this – the transience of “cutting edge” technology; the beginnings of so-called ‘citizen journalism’; accounts that BlackBerry Messenger service was used by looters to organise attacks; the interesting decision of an artist who views himself primarily as a filmmaker to use just this one, tiny moving image.

It is, I think, a wise choice. The point of an installation is to invite the viewer to ‘be here, now.’

Immediately facing the image of House of Reeves is a 3-D recreation of the site of the store that was destroyed (and, despite plans, never rebuilt) – pitted concrete columns, concrete planters with the size and appearance of underground drainage pipes, containing sickly, spindly bushes whose only “leaves” are the detritus of city litter. Walking across the gravel base creates a sound effect to compete with the music (a modern classical quartet, composed by Perretta and performed by members of the Manchester Camerata*). It is one of several significant juxtapositions.

Having arrived at Ai Weiwei’s impressive Sunflower Seeds installation (Tate Modern) just after health and safety had (with good reason) withdrawn permission for visitors to walk on the one hundred million porcelain seeds, it was a relief not to be denied a key auditory aspect of the experience.

The litter and disarray is not overplayed – a can and a bottle here, some cardboard there – and the weeds are Manchester’s very own, handpicked by the artist. What Perretta offers us is less shock and horror, more an enduring sense of puzzlement, regret and lack of resolution.

Three years on from the financial crash of 2008 and with the new coalition government’s austerity measures just beginning to bite, poverty, racial tensions and long-standing grievances with policing all contributed to these riots, although political and press reactions tended to focus on sheer criminality. No Scarman-style inquiry was commissioned. Hence, one feels, the sense of unfinished business and unanswered questions layered through this installation.

The effect is emotionally involving and thought-provoking. How many of us (not just politicians) had all but entirely forgotten these riots (a mere 14 years ago)?

It’s worth reminding yourself about those events in August 2011 (especially at Reeves Corner) prior to visiting A Riot in Three Acts. Allow yourself time to take it all in. As with any worthwhile installation, it’s not to be rushed. Walk, sit, look, listen, and think. Is act three truly completed?