The exhibition features Frankie's portrait suitably positioned in between Rory Gallagher and Paul Rodgers. Frankie played the Isle of Wight festival in 1970, and the exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary.
Please enquire about visiting beforehand if you wish to go, and please observe social distancing!
The Isle of Wight Festival started in 1968 and reached such a huge audience in 1970 that it became a victim of its own success. With an audience of 600,000 it was not sustainable as a festival. Hence the title ‘The Last great Event’ It has been frustrating that the importance of the festival has been lost and should be celebrated in a positive light, Glastonbury which started in 1971 picked up the mantel mainly due to its annual event that has grown steadily over the years. We are now heading towards the 50th Anniversary of the 1970 IOW Festival and it seemed appropriate that some form of remembrance was set in place, by way of a museum or heritage centre. My particular fascination is the hand print as a symbol of humanity, and so the project to collect hand prints of musicians who performed was conceived. I planned that the creation of the sculpture would start with the 1968 anniversary and finish in time for the 1970 anniversary. I estimated that around 100 hand prints would fit onto the fabricated panel.
Guy Portelli, Sculptor
