Rank's Gong To Sound Again On Hull's Waterfront

For half a century, a bare-chested man striking a gong told British cinema audiences the main feature was about to begin. Now that image is to be reborn as a permanent sculpture beside the Humber, reports Group Editor Andrew Palmer.

Artist Annabel McCourt has been selected from more than 70 applications to create a new permanent sculpture reflecting Hull’s links to the Rank Organisation and the Fruit Market’s location on Hull’s waterfront.

Nobody will be hitting this gong, however. Annabel McCourt's design takes it apart.

The artist's proposal, Resonant Tides (After the Strike), beat more than 70 rival entries from Britain and overseas to win the commission for Hull's Fruit Market. She plans to split the Rank Organisation's famous gong into nine huge pieces that curl and twist upwards from their base. Depending on where you stand, the result may suggest a sound wave spreading outwards, water surging in on the tide, or the bow of a vessel heading for open sea.

It will stand on an elevated spot next to the Stage @TheDock amphitheatre. From there it looks out over the confluence of the River Hull and the estuary, and anyone walking into the Fruit Market will pass close by.

The Hull connection runs deeper than the location. J. Arthur Rank's family made its fortune milling flour, and one of its mills stood on the banks of the River Hull. The name would later live on in Rank Hovis. Rank himself turned from grain to film and became one of the defining figures of British cinema, his company's pictures heralded by that unmistakable gongman.

Even the title carries an echo. Rank's production company was barely under way when it released Turn of the Tide in 1935, a drama set in a Yorkshire fishing village.

Artist Annabel McCourt, right, with Wykeland Group Managing Director Dominic Gibbons and Sarah Brignall, daughter of Wykeland’s founder, the late Jack Brignall MBE, at the location for a planned new sculpture overlooking the Stage @TheDock amphitheatre in Hull’s Fruit Market. Photos: R&R Studio.

McCourt, who grew up on the other side of the Humber in Grimsby, is no stranger to the city. Her installation Electric Fence was made for Hull UK City of Culture 2017 and has since toured internationally, while her photography, film and large-scale works have been shown in Brazil, Australia and China.

"This commission feels like a real full-circle moment," she said. "Hull has been an important part of my career, from my early days at Hull Time Based Arts and working with the BBC, to Electric Fence for UK City of Culture 2017, my show at Humber Street Gallery and more recent work with Freedom Festival.

"Hull has shaped me and so many other artists over the years. I want the sculpture to capture some of that energy, as well as the movement and change where the rivers meet."

The money comes from three sources: Wykeland Group, the regeneration company whose offices are in the Fruit Market and which built and runs the amphitheatre; the Brignall family; and Wykeland's managing director, Dominic Gibbons. The finished work will be dedicated to the company's founder, the late Dr Jack Brignall MBE, and his late wife, Beryl.

Mr Gibbons credits the arts with much of the area's revival since the wholesale traders moved out. "This commission continues our commitment to supporting Hull's cultural life and to putting the Fruit Market at the very heart of it," he said.

For Sarah Brignall, one of Jack Brignall's daughters, the appeal lies in how many people will encounter it. "This sculpture will be a new artistic landmark at a key location on the waterfront where it will be experienced by people every day," she said. "Annabel's creative concept has such a strong connection to Hull."

The total cost, including McCourt's fee and every stage from drawing board to installation, is £72,500. More will be revealed once the design is finalised and planning consent is sought.

Rank's gongman was only ever a prelude. On the Humber, the echo is set to become the main attraction.