Place to Place
Provenance and Restitution
Place to Place is the outcome of a unique commission for The Gilbert Trust for the Arts to create new work in response to a 4,250 years old gold ewer, formerly in the Gilbert Collection, on the occasion of its return to Turkey.
Place to Place, read more on the V&A blog
Adi Toch, Place to Place, 2021. Film by Peter Kelleher, Victoria and Albert Museum.

Reflecting on the Gold Ewer I saw its broken spout as a metaphor for loss of direction, emblematic of the ewer’s return to its homeland. In dialogue with this narrative I envisioned the new artwork as one which embraces the absence of the ewer in the collection whilst highlighting the fascinating story behind its departure.

A funnel concentrates and provides a new direction. It also implies that something is missing as it is typically an accompanying object to another container. It connects between objects or spaces. From outside to inside. It offers a passage between the vast space of a room to an enclosed narrow space of a vessel such as a bottle. There is an openness and acceptance in the form and function that resonates with the story of restitution.





Adi Toch (2021) Place to Place,