News.
MAJOR CONTEMPORARY FOLKLORE EXHIBITION OPENS AT SUNNY BANK MILLS ART GALLERY IN LEEDS
5th November 2024
A major contemporary folklore exhibition has opened at Sunny Bank Mills Art Gallery in Farsley, between Leeds and Bradford. LORE is a group exhibition featuring 14 artists from all over the UK who explore contemporary folklore through their practice. It runs until December 24th 2024.
Sunny Bank Mills Arts Director and LORE Co-Curator, Anna Turzynski said: “The aim of this exhibition is to improve access and inclusion to our arts programme here at Sunny Bank Mills. Put simply we want more people to feel welcome in the Gallery and across the site.
She continued: Folklore felt like the perfect context for this work as it is continually evolving and can be used as a tool to help us connect and make sense of personal and social landscapes that can be challenging to navigate. We have been totally overwhelmed by the positive response to the exhibition and it has been a joy to curate. However, the artworks in the Gallery are only the beginning of the conversation. We have an amazing collection of events and workshops running alongside the exhibition to help discover hidden stories and create new traditions, and we are really looking forward to hearing about your lore as the exhibition continues. We have learnt so much whilst working on this project and I look forward to its legacy. We are grateful to Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants Fund for an award to help us realise this important exhibition.”
Sonia Moran, Arts Engagement Co-ordinator and LORE Co-Curator said,” All of the artists exhibiting in the Gallery were chosen through an open call. We had over 500 applications and from those we selected 10 seed commissions which were offered £154.00 to enable them to make a final proposal to be in with a chance of receiving one of three larger commissions of up to £2,558.00 plus a materials budget. We invited a further 4 of the open call artists to be part of the final exhibition. For me, LORE has been a dream to bring it to life and as a team, we are so excited for everyone to explore it.
Moran continued: “Folklore is essentially stories. We create stories with creatures and characters to explain difficult and important events that happen in life, to grapple with complicated emotions and to give those feelings a narrative of their own.
The work in the exhibition was selected because it really explores the multi layered narrative of folklore platforming incredible artists who are telling stories about their personhood. Stories that have been told for hundreds of years or are brand new lore. Our hope is that people will see a part of themselves in this exhibition and be inspired as a result.
I like to think that LORE is the voice of communities artfully expressed in many forms and we hope this exhibition will help improve intercultural and intergenerational understanding. This exhibition hopes to platform untold stories of communities, captured in voices as varied as they are vivid.”
The exhibiting artists are:
Adam Hogarth
Alfred Beesley
Herfa Martina Thompson (large commission award)
Jihyun Kim
Karen Okpoti
Kit George
Libby Bove (large commission award)
Lunatraktors
Olana Light
Sally Barton
Tom Glencross
Woo Jin Joo
Yeu-Lai Mo (large commission award)
Yvadney Davis
The LORE exhibition was awarded £21,262 from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants Fund to improve access and inclusion to its Arts Programme through the delivery of a visual arts exhibition
To find out more information about LORE: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/lore/ The Gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday 10-4, Sunday 12-4. Closed on Mondays. FREE ENTRY.
Sunny Bank Mills is one of the most exciting and respected cultural and community hubs in the Yorkshire region. It is home to a large artists’ community and with many other independent businesses on site. It’s situated in the heart of the thriving village of Farsley in West Leeds.
