Focusing in on Contemporary Art in Heritage

The end of May and early June saw the start of MCAHE’s series of focus group meetings and visits to the heritage sites. We are working with four focus groups, selected from different audience sectors (including regular heritage site attenders, contemporary arts attenders, volunteers and less frequent-attenders). Initial meetings with each of our groups discussed attitudes and responses to contemporary art and to heritage, prior to visiting any of the sites. Fascinating discussions ensued and anticipation rose for our visits to Gibside, Cherryburn and Holy Trinity.

Two of the focus groups have now visited Andrew Burton and Fiona Curran's artworks at Gibside and Mark Fairnington's installation at Cherryburn. Following some time to engage with both artwork and site, participants gathered over lunch to discuss their experiences. Lively debate and discussions focused on their engagement with and understandings of the commissioned artworks, and the impact of both the art on the heritage site and of the site on the artworks. We are all now looking forward to the next rounds of visits to these National Trust properties and to Holy Trinity in Sunderland, following the launch of the artwork here on 6 July.

Last modified: Tue, 19 Jun 2018 15:09:40 BST