'The Sense of Place' - by Artists in Residence Lin Holland & Jane Poulton

Liverpool Cathedral and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King are currently hosting a unique dual artists’ residency.  The two artists, Lin Holland and Jane Poulton, have been working in the cathedrals, two days a week, since November 2007.

 

An initial period of research and development gave them an insight into the daily activities of the cathedrals and the roles they play within the spiritual life of the city. 

 

Both artists are enjoying responding to the challenges of working in these environments.

 

“Undertaking a residency is very different from working to commission or making work for exhibition or sale in a gallery. You have to approach it with an open mind, with no preconceived ideas and allow the host location to influence your thinking”. 

 

“It’s a subtle process – all your ties to familiar working patterns are cut – the environment you are working within can lead you to unexpected conclusions.” 

 

The artists’ first project was community-based.  They were invited by Liverpool Hope University to make artworks for the opening and closing ceremonies of The Big Hope – a World Youth Congress for which 500 young people from 55 different countries came to Liverpool for a week of debate about faith in the modern world.

 

The artists were already working with two local groups – senior adults from The League of Welldoers and students from The Rotunda College.

 

 

 A group of Big Hope delegates from Nigeria, Thailand, Bethlehem, India and America joined them and together they produced nearly 300 paper flowers and 10,000 petals. 

 

 

 

 

    

“The flower motif was chosen as a universal symbol which has significance across faiths and in secular life.  It was an enriching experience – we talked as we made the flowers and petals, sharing stories and memories, and members of The League of Welldoers sang songs about flowers for our overseas visitors.”  (Lin Holland)

 

The opening ceremony of The Big Hope took place at the Metropolitan Cathedral on 4^th June.  The petals were piled around the sanctuary step and the flowers were ceremonially placed amongst the petals.

 

 

The closing ceremony was on 11^th June at the Anglican Cathedral where the flowers were arranged on the floor of the baptistery to form the word ‘HOPE’.

 

  

 At the end of the ceremony when the congregation rose to greet each other with The Peace, the 10,000 paper petals descended in a cloud of shimmering colour from the Corona Gallery – the highest internal point in the cathedral.  The spectacle was a surprise to all but a few people and a roar of appreciation rose as they realised what was happening.

 

 

 

The resident artists, seen here with some of their co-workers, (Lin is front row right, Jane front row left), are in the cathedrals until the end of November making work to be shown during the Liverpool Biennial from 20^th September to 30^th November 2008.