A giant digital portrait of the King has been unveiled on the screens at Outernet in London ahead of the coronation.
BBC Children In Need partnered with artist Sam Barnett to launch The Royally Big Portrait, which contains hundreds of thousands of individual images of Charles drawn by members of the public from across the UK. Visitors are able to locate their individual drawing within the portrait using iPads and see their personal contribution on wraparound screens in the space’s Now Building near Tottenham Court Road until May 8.
Alexandra Payne, head of creative at Outernet London, told the PA news agency: “We think the King and the entire royal family are going to be really thrilled with what we’ve managed to achieve here at Outernet London with BBC Children In Need. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate the coronation and really allows all the audiences coming down to interact with the King on our immersive 360-scale interactive screens.
“We’ve actually managed to incorporate thousands and thousands of the uploaded submissions from children all over the United Kingdom. I think all portraits have been really, really unique and it shows the diversity of the children that have tried to take part in the exhibition.”
The final portrait will be auctioned by Christie’s at The Outernet during a special event on May 4, with proceeds going to BBC Children In Need. More than 5,000 contributions will be needed from the general public to break the Guinness World Records title for the most online contributions to a digital artwork.
Meanwhile, a special print edition of the artwork will also be available through the BBC Children In Need website as it raises funds “to support the lives of vulnerable children and young people across the nation affected by food insecurity”. The National Portrait Gallery, which is reopening in June, also shared portraits of monarchs throughout history from its collection to help inspire all those taking part and will showcase The Royally Big Portrait over the summer.
