More Art and Exhibitions at Cathedrals

Art inspired by the West window of Winchester, a project exploring the meaning of sanctuary with refugees in Newcastle, Peterborough announces its Monsters of the Sea exhibition is coming to an end, and it’s the last weekend to see Durham’s Peace Doves .

Fifteen sculptures by artist Laurence Edwards from his leaf series go on show in Winchester Cathedral next week – including new pieces created especially in response to the building.

The exhibition which opens in the north transept on 6 September, presents a series of ethereal, cut-through, transmorphic figures that were inspired by the history of the Great West Window.

Leaves and quincunx (the geometric pattern of four-sided shapes with a solitary figure in their centre) have been used in the work pointing towards a relationship with the building and the artefacts of Winchester Cathedral.

The artist, Lawrence Edwards said:

“I was blown away by the great West window of Winchester Cathedral which itself had been blown away by Oliver Cromwell, only for the fragments of glass to be collected and reassembled by the people of the town, the resulting assemblage of fragments and light seemed a great metaphor for the exhibition.

“With my bronze figures dissolving and coalescing in cycles through this spectacular building, I try to trace attempts that have been made at making sense of our place in the world through the lens of this magnificent space,” he added.

Borrowed Breath runs from 6 September to 5 November.

Just Building Bridges (Sanctuary Seekers’ Exhibition) at Newcastle Cathedral.

This exhibition, developed last year through a series of workshops at Newcastle’s Hatton Gallery and led by the Culture Matters co-operative, showcases photographs, films and zines created by refugees and sanctuary seekers.

Participants, hailing from diverse countries and continents, brought a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and cultures. While some had been living in the area for years, others were recent arrivals. All shared a common goal: to ‘build bridges’ and resettle peacefully and successfully within local communities.

Themes and topics were chosen based on the group’s personal experiences and ideas around ‘building bridges’ to justice. This included social justice, environmental justice, justice in personal and social relationships, and other aspects of justice (or its absence) that they wished to document.

The workshops were facilitated by Theresa Easton, a lecturer in Fine Art at Newcastle University; Carl Joyce, a photographer and filmmaker; and Michael Quille, a writer and editor from the Culture Matters co-operative.

This exhibition now launches on Wednesday 11 September until 14 October.

This is the last weekend visitors can see Peace Doves by Peter Walker at Durham Cathedral, with the final day of the installation on Wednesday 4 September.

Throughout summer visitors to Durham Cathedral have experienced a brand new immersive artwork as a canopy of paper doves has been suspended in the cathedral’s Nave.

Peace Doves is a large-scale installation made up of thousands of individually handmade paper doves which have been suspended above the Crossing of the cathedral and is accompanied by music from composer David Harper.

A programme of peace-inspired events has also accompanied the installation, with the final chance to attend an exclusive late-night viewing this Friday (30 August).

Since April, visitors, schools, local groups and church communities have created paper doves to reach the target of 15,000 doves for the installation which opened at the end of July.

Volunteer, John Garside, one of the team of volunteers who helped visitors make paper doves for the installation said,

“For the past few months I’ve been helping people make a peace dove and I’ve made a few myself too! As soon as I came in today [Friday 26 July] and saw the white doves hanging in the Nave it made a real impact on me and was great to see what we’ve been creating for the past few months finally come to life.”

Some of the visitors and groups involved have shared their stories of creating a dove for a small exhibition that is running alongside the installation called ‘Making of Peace Doves’ and can be found in the North aisle.

Peace Doves closes on 4 September. Entry is free with a suggested donation of £5 to help support the conservation of the cathedral. Find out more here.

Photo credit : Peter Walker Sculptor.

Peterborough Cathedral is preparing to bid farewell to its “Monsters of the Sea” exhibition as it enters its final weekend too.

Over the past six weeks, nearly 30,000 visitors have visited the exhibition – making it one of the Cathedral’s most successful events to date. The collection of life-sized sea creatures, interactive exhibits, and educational displays showcases the wonders of the ocean’s most fascinating inhabitants and has craft tables and school art work alongside all inspired by the creation message of Monsters of the Sea .

Head of Market and Communications at the Cathedral, Paul Stainton, said: “It has been just joyous to see so many young, happy, smiling faces visit the Cathedral this summer, having fun, taking shark selfies and learning about the ocean and the creatures that lived in it.

“This exhibition has been a huge success on many levels and has helped create a real buzz in the centre of our city right throughout the summer, with knock-on benefits for local businesses.”

The exhibition closes this Sunday (1 September).