The city explored through contemporary art interventions
Images attached: Oliver Jameson, a fine art student at York St John
University, and Nela Scholma-Mason, a PhD archaeology student at the
University of York, take part in The Postern
A leading artist has been making a film in York which takes a new look at the
history of the city.
The Postern is a short film by artist Janet Hodgson, with choreography by
Lea Anderson, based in the early 16th-century Fishergate Postern Tower on
York City Walls.
It’s part of an artwork called The Workshop of Historical Correction, which
Janet is creating for York Curiouser, a project which is placing new sitespecific artworks in hidden parts of York from 14 June to 7 July. The film will
be part of an artwork inside the Fishergate Postern Tower.
Janet says: “I was struck by the volume of history available on the surface for
the casual viewer of the City. I decided to make a work that uses the idea of
history as the starting point for a new temporary work.
“Jacquetta Hawkes, the archaeologist and writer, said that ‘every generation
gets the Stonehenge it deserves’ – meaning history is never fixed and always
reflects the time from which it is made and told.
“In the imagined institution The Workshop of Historical Correction the
forgotten, out-of-date, wrong or missing, misguided histories from York’s past
appear to be being stored and reworked ready to go on display once again.
“One of the stories about the Fishergate Postern Tower was that in the
Georgian period, there was dancing and singing for private assembles. It’s not
certain that this is fact. However, taking this story at face value I am making a
costume drama that shows the remaking of this story, ready to go out and
take its place amongst the histories of York today.
“The Postern is a film of a Georgian dance lesson with a difference. The
performers have learned a new quadrille specially composed by Lea
Anderson. The film is being shot on site, and shown in the tower during the
three weeks of York Curiouser.”
Lea says: “I really like Janet’s idea – a smash-up of Georgian and modernist
culture. It’s really refreshing.”
The performers in the film were all local volunteers, many of them from York’s
various higher education institutions
Janet will be giving a talk entitled Creating a Fictional History at the
Fishergate Postern Tower between noon and 1pm on Sunday 15 June,
exploring her approach to story-telling and histories as she explains why the
tower has become a temporary site for this unique installation. The talk is free,
and there is no need to book, but donations to the Friends of York Walls will
be welcome.
York Curiouser was initiated and is being curated by Co-Artistic Directors
Hazel Colquhoun, an independent public art commissioning curator, and Lara
Goodband, an independent visual art curator.
Other artworks in the project will cover a range of media including sound,
ceramics, poetry and textiles, developed specifically for locations as diverse
as the National Centre for Early Music, the City Walls, the Treasurer’s House
Gardens and St Anthony’s Gardens, King’s Manor, and the many snickelways
that lace the city.
Others taking part are: writer and poet John Wedgwood Clarke; installation
artist Susanne Davies; textile artist Sally Greaves-Lord; artist, academic
and educator Matt Hawthorn; Heinrich & Palmer, who collaborate to create
artworks ranging from photographic and light installations to large-scale
projection events and public art interventions; sound artist Damian Murphy;
artist Jacques Nimki, and ceramicist Karen Thompson.
The final weekend of York Curiouser will coincide with the start of the Tour
de France Grand Départ in York, and is part of the 100-day Yorkshire Festival
accompanying the tour. It is also part of the University of York’s annual
Festival of Ideas.
For more information on York Curiouser and the artists: yorkcuriouser.com
Twitter: @yorkcuriouser
Facebook: facebook.com/yorkcuriouser
Instagram: www.instagram.com/yorkcuriouser
Flickr: York Curiouser 2014
Further media information: Jeannie Swales at Turnstone Media:
info@turnstonemedia.co.uk or 07968 953737
-EndsNotes to editors
Janet Hodgson is an artist and lecturer whose work is concerned with an
examination of the construction and understanding of time and place. The
work is multi-disciplinary, cross-platform and often collaborative; she uses the
site and its histories as a starting point for her works. Janet’s
work has been shown internationally in Canada, Berlin, Bulgaria, Italy and
Russia. She is well known in the UK, with exhibitions including the Whitworth
Art Gallery, the Bluecoat gallery, the Serpentine Gallery in London and Tate
Liverpool. Janet is also a lecturer at U.C.E in Birmingham, Wimbledon in
London and the University of Kent. She regularly works with archaeologists
including at El-Kurru in the Sudan, at Stonehenge and with Canterbury
Archaeology trust.
Lea Anderson is a choreographer and artistic director. With Teresa Barker
and Gaynor Coward, she co-founded The Cholmondeleys and The
Featherstonehaughs dance companies, with which she has choreographed
over 100 works. Lea and her companies have also become recognised for
outdoor and site-specific works, performances in alternative venues such as
Glastonbury Festival, work for TV, film and video and an innovative and
responsive programme of work with young people.
A major element of York Curiouser is education, from primary through to
tertiary. University of York students are attending a series of workshops led by
the Co-Artistic Directors. Both the University of York and York St John
University are hosting artists in residence who are developing new artwork
alongside students from a range of disciplines. York Curiouser is also
offering artist-led workshops in primary and secondary schools.
York Curiouser has many strands and partners in York including the National
Centre for Early Music and the Quilt Museum. It has made links with a range
of York community groups and organisations who are meeting with and
briefing the artists and helping with sites and venues. These include the River
Foss Society, Friends of York Walls, the Centre for Early Music, English
Heritage, National Trust, and York Conservation Trust.
The project has received funding from Arts Council England through Grants
for the Arts, City of York Council, The University of York, York St John
University and the National Centre for Early Music.