THE RED CROSS PUB

Palimpsest Public House (2008) is a temporary installation in the public realm of the Barbican involving, lighting, graphics, dance performance and participatory activities that will engage visitors and residents of all ages in an imaginative spatial conversation with the history of the Barbican precinct. The project imaginatively 'reincarnates' four pubs in the Barbican complex that were destroyed in WWII bombing. It is part of London Open House 2008.

Since 1393, landlords have been compelled to erect signs outside their premises in order to make them easily visible to inspectors and ale tasters. The nature of these signs was pictorial, as during the Middle Ages, a large percentage of the population was illiterate. There was often no reason to write the establishments name on the sign and inns opened without a formal written name – the name being derived later from the illustration on the public houses sign.

The ‘Red Cross’ pub will be recreated at the Barbican as part of the Palimpsest Pub series. The physical realisation of the ‘pub’ will be analogous to the literal naming of some public houses of the past, a simple outline of a cross in red on the ground surface, which is then furnished with the accoutrements of that setting.

As in the past, the ‘pub’ is to be a means of communication and social interaction. The ‘floor’ of the pub will be created with the chalk writing of the residents of the Barbican and other members of the public, which will develop in texture and content over the course of the two day event.

The Palimpsest Public House project was developed by the artist Carol Mancke and funded by the Arts Council England.