On Saturday 1st April, Birmingham theatre company Stan’s Cafe will be arriving at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings with 1.12 tonnes of rice - a single grain for everyone in the UK. 

Over the course of eight days, two members of the company, dressed in smart caretaker uniforms, will carefully measure out the rice into labelled piles, representing a wide array of statistics about the people of North-East Worcestershire.  

This performance installation, entitled Of All the People in All the World, uses grains of rice to bring once abstract statistics to startling and powerful life. It has been touring internationally for over 20 years. A few days after Stan’s Cafe open the show in Bromsgrove, another version will open at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC.  

As James Yarker, Artistic Director of Stan’s Cafe explains: 

“The statistics and the way the piles of rice are arranged can be moving, shocking, celebratory, witty and thought provoking. Occasionally visitors suggest statistics that we can work into the show. For this special version of the show, regional cultural and heritage organisations have also been submitting statistics in advance, and our research has revealed a fascinating picture of this region’s unique history, industry and culture”.  

The installation is coming to Bromsgrove as a result of the work of the North-East Worcestershire Cultural Compact, a new network of organisations working together to increase participation and involvement with local culture and heritage amongst residents of Redditch and Bromsgrove.

The Compact’s second full conference takes place at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings in Bromsgrove on 28th March, with a focus on future planning. The rice installation will also be shown on this day, aiming to provoke a rich discussion about how the Compact can collaborate to shine a spotlight on the significant and untapped heritage of the area.  

Avoncroft Museum’s Director, Zoe Willems, said: “We are proud to host the world-reknowned Stan’s Café at Avoncroft Museum this Easter. It’s exciting to provide a venue for cultural enjoyment and communication here in Bromsgrove. We hope as many people as possible will come to visit the Museum while the installation is here, find out more about the Cultural Compact and how heritage and culture can play such an important part in telling the human stories we can all relate to.” 

The installation will be open daily on 1st and 2nd April, and 5th – 10th April, 10am – 4pm in the New Guesten Hall, and is included with an entrance ticket to the museum.