The Rain Tour

This was the  second day of giving tours and the weather has been absolutely terrible. If it were any worse and we would have had to cancel the tours altogether. It has been raining on and off all day and temperatures have not risen above single figures.

Still, it could have been worse, at least it was only a guided tour that was soddened by the weather. I noticed that at the church next door (they of the loud and early bells) there was a wedding taking place today. I took a picture of one of the cars waiting for the couple to emerge as it connects two quite separate threads of The Tour of All Tours. 

So the first is quite simple. Unless I am very much mistaken, this is the same model and colour of Porsche that I sat behind in the Porsche Museum last week. Having sat inside it I now understand better how it can be easy for those driving such cars to feel themselves to be a cut above the normal driver. The other tangential reference is to the Croatian flag hanging out the window. Yesterday I got talking about the inspiration of the project and talked quite a bit about the situation in Dubrovnik with guided tours, how the city centre is flooded with too many tourists in too small a space and how this gave me my initial inspiration for The Tour of All Tours. So this project was in a way inspired by Croatia and in another way was also informed by work I did with with the Zagreb-based group Shadowcasters who make very specific types of city projects integrated into the life of the city. This is particularly on my mind as I'll be returning to Croatia in 8 days to begin working on a new Shadowcasters project, directed by Boris Bakal, which will be a performance that takes places in the streets of Dubrovnik for the Summer Festival. It is always satisfying when life offers some crossovers, patterns and form in the endless flood of events that all too often defy any clear logic. OK, calling this logic is stretching the definition of the word, but I do find it important to create my own personal narratives so I can feel central to the events I experience rather than a witness of stuff.

As the weather was so rotten today the pictures are taken from the newspaper review of yesterday's performance that has just been published. Unless google translate is playing rotten tricks on me it seems positive, which is always welcome, though I have learnt not to be too concerned about negative reviews. I don't mean to say that the press is not important, it is, but that is more as a publicity concern. Speaking of which, we also got another write up HERE. What was in fact more valuable for me thinking through where to go next with The Tour of All Tours was having a chance to have a good conversation with people about the tour.

I have to thank the newspaper's photographer Max Kovalenko for these two photographs, which I am using here, as today was so wet I didn't get any pictures of the tour.

This was day two of the performances and the tour is settling and I am finding a rhythm. There are places I still search for words and some ideas that are not wholly realised so it remains a fluid event but I feel more in command. Something that was quite nice, for example, was coming across some of the other tours and having something to say about them. This can still go further but I already like the unpredictable side of this, as you never really know where and when you might run into another tour. Numbers today were small, due to the weather, but those who came were well prepared in waterproof jackets and warm clothing, with the exception of a French woman who looked thoroughly chilled (in the wrong way) by the end of the tour. The group warmed up over coffee and cake at Cafe Nast and we got to both hear and tell many stories about all the various tours and trips we had all made. A nice way to end a day of cold and drizzle.