Contemporary Arts in the Lake District, Cumbria

The Lake District, Cumbria is an area that has inspired creatives for generations. The mystique of the mountains and the reflective quality of the serene lakes have been the subject of countless poems, stories and performances. The contemporary arts scene, today, is as vibrant as ever and attracts creative souls from all over the globe.
 

Lakes Culture
 

In celebration of this, Lakes Culture was formed in association with the Arts Council England and VisitEngland to bring together and showcase some of the Lake District’s cultural highlights, festivals and events, including the highly successful Lakes Ignite festivals. Museums, galleries and exhibitions, and cultural attractions in all corners of the beautiful Lake District National Park that reveal the creative spirit of the Lakes. From iconic cultural figures of the past, to the contemporary and cutting edge.

Some of the top arts organisations in the area are involved in the project, including Kendal Brewery Arts Centre; Lakeland Arts - the organisation behind Windermere Jetty Museum, Blackwell - The Arts & Crafts House and Abbot Hall art gallery; Wordsworth Trust; Theatre by the Lake; the Forestry Commission – Grizedale; Cumbria Tourism; the National Trust; Lake District National Park; South Lakeland District Council and Lake District Summer Music.
 

World Heritage

In 2017 the Lake District was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. The Lake District, Cumbria now sits alongside other historically significant sites such as Egypt’s pyramids, the Taj Mahal and Hadrian’s Wall. You can find out more about Cumbrian World Heritage here. To celebrate this global recognition, six special art installations were commissioned as part of Lakes Ignite 2018 to represent the themes of the Lake District World Heritage accreditation:

• Identity – the way man’s interaction with the landscape has shaped what we see today
• Inspiration – a landscape that has inspired, and continues to inspire, artists, writers and visitors
• Conservation – a landscape that is worth preserving for future generations

The installations were located at venues across the county including Langdale Estates, Rheged, Ambleside Salutation Hotel and Spa, University of Cumbria Ambleside campus, Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House and Grizedale Forest.
 

The Commissions:

Slung by Michael Shaw at Rheged.

A large inflatable sculpture called Slung was installed in the Mountain Hall at Rheged, Penrith. Michael Shaw says that it had a mild flavour of Dr Seuss, with a hint of Haribos and the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. Composed of two forms, which unite aerially, the sculpture suggested a pair of lungs that cyclically inflate and deflate as though breathing. Highly coloured with fluorescent pink and orange stripes.

Arctic Char by Brian and George Fell at The Ambleside Salutation Hotel.

Arctic Char was displayed at The Ambleside Salutation Hotel. A sculpture depicting a shoal of Arctic Char, hand made in steel. Brian Fell is an artist based at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where he works with his son George. He has created many popular landmark sculptures on permanent display around the UK. The Arctic Char is one of the Lake District’s most notable examples of wildlife, the fish’s presence in the Lakes dates back to the Ice Age and its survival there is an inspiring example of conservation.
 

The Ordnance Pavilion by Studio MUTT at Wainwrights’ Inn, Langdale Estates,
(Studio MUTT is James Crawford, Graham Burn and Alex Turner).

The Ordnance Pavilion was an architectural intervention celebrating the extraordinary Ordnance Survey and the impact the mappings have had on our human and cultural interaction with the landscape. The piece will be an interactive and semi-inhabitable sculpture. MUTT is interested in the almost absurd and laborious process that people went through when re-measuring the landscape over roughly 30 years -something that seems completely alien in our GPS navigated world of today.

Mountains We Made by Charlie Whinney at Grizedale Forest

Mountains We Made is created by Cumbrian based artist Charlie Whinney, from a series of ten steam bent sections of sustainably sourced oak from Grizedale Forest. This installation has been added to the permanent collection at Grizedale Forest and can be viewed anytime.
 

Time Mirror by Di Mainstone at Blackwell - The Arts & Crafts House

Di Mainstone: Time Mirror was displayed at Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House. This interactive sculpture allowed audiences to experience and capture the stunning Lake District surroundings in an experimental and abstract way. The Time Mirror is a large tessellated funnel shaped structure, covered in mirrors that can spin 360 degrees to reflect the landscape from any angle. It can also tilt to reflect the sky and mountains. It also reflected back any participants and viewers that interact with it capturing them in the Lake District landscape. Visitors will be able to use the time mirror device to create abstract portraits of themselves – set within the landscape at Blackwell.

The Buried Moon by The Strange Names Collective (Philip Stanier), at The University of Cumbria, Ambleside.

The Buried Moon was a multi-disciplinary art project of three parts, exploring landscape, the mysterious interior of the earth, and the cultural history of geology.

This is the new home for Lakes Culture where you can explore events, exhibitions and performances from the numerous arts organisations and venues around the Lake District, Cumbria.