Could you take a winning photograph of the lighting installation at St John’s ruins, Chester? There’s a £200 cash prize for the winning image. The lighting sequences will be adjusted for a short period to help you take your photo. Please see full details, and the official entry form, here. Closing date Sunday 26 February. Good luck!
Catherine Clarke was filmed recently talking about the ‘Mapping Medieval Chester’ research and the new ‘Discover Medieval Chester’ Knowledge Transfer project which will share the academic work with new audiences.
You can view the video here or here.
The video was filmed by the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities at Swansea University.
At the workshops before Christmas we had another opportunity to discuss the research and ideas behind the St John’s art project with local people, and hear their views and suggestions. It was tremendous to hear such positive responses and I felt really privileged and proud to be part of such an exciting project. A few photos attached – though the ones on site don’t show the projections and were taken in very dark conditions! Thank you to our hosts at St John’s for making us so welcome.
Presentation in St John's Church
We’ve now finalised arrangements for another series of community workshops in Chester in December, including more text development workshops, a public presentation at St John’s Church, and an on-site workshop in which you can talk directly to the artist, Nayan Kulkarni, see the projection technology and even get involved in the production of some slides.
You can read more details of the events (and information about booking, where appropriate) here. There will be further activities in January, including a Photography Competition for local photographers to have a go at capturing the light installation – watch this space!
'Hryre' photo by David Heke
On Tuesday 15 November, Year 6 pupils at Newton Primary School worked with artist Nayan Kulkarni to produce illumination designs which were projected over the school building. This workshop and new art were inspired by ‘Hryre’ at St John’s Church, Chester, which projects fragments of text edited by the ‘Mapping Medieval Chester’ project across the ruins. The Newton Primary School artwork also explores the idea of writing with light. Pictures by Andy Scargill.
More photos…
For one night only! On Tuesday 15th November Newton Primary School will be illuminated by Year 6 artwork, produced under the direction of multimedia artist Nayan Kulkarni. This new art takes as its inspiration ‘Hryre’, the lighting installation at St John’s Church, Chester, which projects fragments of medieval text across the ruins.
You can read a press release about the event here and you can see a flyer advertising the event here.
The first, temporary, phase of the St John’s art installation is currently up and running in Chester. This will be replaced by the permanent installation early in 2012. The photos here were taken by the artist, Nayan Kulkarni.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the artwork, so please get in touch. The interpretation leaflet here explains how to do that.
The first phase of our art installation at St John’s Church, Chester, is now complete. The first set of projections, produced by artist Nayan Kulkarni and his team, are now in place, illuminating the medieval ruins at St John’s with fragments of medieval texts which describe the city of Chester.
You can read about the projections and the content of the projected fragments in the interpretation leaflet here. (It’s also handy to print and take along with you if you’re going to the site.)
For the next four months Nayan and Catherine will be developing the permanent content of the artwork, in consultation with the community. The current projections are a means of testing the illuminations and providing a real experience that will form the basis for a number of workshops to be held in Chester. We’re also keen to hear your thoughts and ideas: the leaflet explains how to give us your feedback.
Photographs will be available here very soon.
Our public art project in Chester has already received coverage in the local media. You can see a recent newspaper story here.
The first workshop linked to the development of our public art installation was held in the Chester Renaissance offices, Chester Visitor Centre, on Saturday 17 September. 19 local people responded to our invitation and joined Catherine Clarke (who’s leading the ‘Discover Medieval Chester’ project), the artist Nayan Kulkarni and other members of the artwork project team to discuss and develop ideas for the first, temporary lighting projections, to be sited at St John’s from early October 2011 until February 2012. The current phase of the project is funded by Cheshire West and Chester Council.
The public artwork will draw on the texts which we explored in our ‘Mapping Medieval Chester’ research, beaming words and fragments in light across the medieval ruins at St John’s Church, Chester. The workshop was an opportunity for us to identify possible text for the initial projections.
