Pub sign set to be part of international exhibition

The pub sign, which is seen outside The Red Lion pub in West Bromwich, is already a favourite with locals and now it is on display in Italy at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in Venice in Italy.

Used as part of the British Pavilion's "The Garden of Privatised Delights", The Red Lion Desi Pub sign has made its way to Venice after a request by design collective, The Decorators who have produced one of the Pavilion’s immersive rooms "Publicani".

The pub sign was commissioned by Creative Black Country in collaboration with New Art Exchange, Skinder Hundal & Sooree Pillay, illustrated by Hardeep Pandhal and painted by Andrew Grundon.

Sathnam Purewal, owner of the Red Lion, said the sign had been commissioned by the Arts Council and said it had brought a lot of attention to the pub.

He said: "It certainly has got people's attention and a lot of coverage from all sorts of people and I think it's something that becomes a proper talking point.

"It's been really good and it's great to be involved in the project and help publicise the West Midlands.

"The artist Hardeep has done a cracking job on it and it's really cool to think that my pub sign is being seen by all these people in Venice."

Each room within the British Pavilion will present a new model for the future of public space through an immersive installation, designed to engage us in the debate and ask us how we can use spaces differently.

Parminder Dosanjh, creative director at Creative Black Country, said: "We are thrilled that The Decorators have used the Desi Pubs of the Black Country as inspiration for Publicani at the British Pavilion.

"The Desi Pub story is the perfect example of how declining pubs have been reinvented by diaspora communities to turn the traditional British Pub into thriving community spaces.

"The project is about telling this extraordinary story in the sincerest way and paying homage to the people at the heart of it.

"The story has many layers and includes tales of migration, survival, love, and the remarkable meeting point of the English Pub and once Indian migrant."