SKIPTON
BIG IDEAS
An immersive art exhibition that featured over 20 artworks exploring the key issues affecting our community today.
ART IN A CHANGING WORLD
Skipton Big Ideas was ArtHouse Jersey’s major flagship project for 2021. It was a spectacular, immersive exhibition featuring over 20 art installations by local and international artists at St Helier Town Church. Designed to welcome the whole Island community, the exhibition was an event that Jersey can be proud of. It took place across three weeks between Thursday 14 October and Thursday 4 November 2021, and was free of charge for anyone to attend. It completely transformed the church building with installations, artworks and creative lighting. The show marks the decade anniversary of ArtHouse Jersey partnering with Skipton International, a relationship that has delivered ten impactful community art projects over that time. Alongside the exhibition there were a number of world class evening performances, lunchtime lectures and inclusive weekend workshops, all speaking to three key themes. Skipton Big Ideas aimed to engage the whole community in a debate around how we might create a more inclusive and sustainable future for our Island home.
WHAT WERE THE BIG IDEAS?
Skipton Big Ideas explored three key issues affecting society today; sustainability, accessibility and identity. Over 30 artists worked on 20 large scale 3D installation art works that encouraged reflection and discourse.
Sustainability: We live in an age of environmental and social emergencies. We are constantly forced to re-examine what we value most and how we will sustain ourselves. How do we protect what we already have? How do we consume less? How might we repurpose things and what will it take to change our mindsets?
Accessibility: Are the arts accessible to all? Do some people feel excluded from the cultural narrative? If so, how might that sense of exclusion look and feel, and how might we better break down barriers in the arts?
Identity: Where do we get our sense of identity? Where is home? How important is cultural identity and how do we square this with an increasingly global community?
WHO WERE THE ARTISTS?
ArtHouse Jersey commissioned over 40 artists for Skipton Big Ideas, representing a major investment in the Island’s cultural sector Among the commissioned artists were: Akhila Krishnan, Viv Le Vav, Casi, Pippa Nissen, Mari Keto, Nina Zaech, Margarida Lourenco, Francesca Monticelli, Ben Robertson, Tim Evans, Yulia Makeyeva, Ian Rolls, Alison Horton, Tim Le Breuilly, Kerry Jane Warner, Poppy Whatmore, Gabriella Street, Snap Design, Oliver Le Gresley, Karen Le Roy Harris, Sarah Keirle, Ben Davies, Qiao Cun, Maria Tarrant, Kyle Moody, Heather Barrett, William Howell Jackson, Bianca Padidar, Bethany Voak, Anna Shipley, Henry Lambert, Jodie Carney, Antoaneta Tica, Hayley Wray, Essential Dance, Adam Flynn, Natasha Dettman, George Crane, Leithe Gie, Clare Ormsby, Freya Higgens, Jane Yates, Tania Andrade, Juliet St John Nicolle, Deborah Dickinson and Lisa MacDonald.
HEADLINE EVENTS
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THE WALKING GALLERY
The Walking Gallery consisted of three exciting nights of wearable art events, showcasing bespoke, wearable and sustainable creations. The unique, one off events featured sustainable style and wearable art alongside a number of special performances, including choreographed dance and acrobatics, set amongst the installory experience of the overall exhibition at St Helier Town Church. Learn more at the button below.
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THE SOUND OF COLOUR
A hugely ambitious visual and sonic feast, ‘The Sound of Colour’ was a limited run of live music & projection concerts designed by internationally renowned projection designer and creative director Akhila Krishnan in collaboration with Berlin-based music producer Viv le Vav. Sponsored jointly by Bedell Cristin and UBS, this unique commission served as the headline events for Skipton Big Ideas. A total of five 30 minute performances took place over three nights from Thursday 21 October to Saturday 23 October 2021.
The creation of Jersey’s biggest ever art exhibition.
The backstory and creation of ArtHouse Jersey's Skipton Big Ideas art exhibition in 2021. The exhibition featured 20 art installations by over 40 artists and took over 100 creatives in total to pull the final show together. Skipton Big Ideas also featured special events as well as workshops and lectures, all speaking to the themes of sustainability, accessibility and identity.
WE HOSTED FREE LECTURES AT JERSEY LIBRARY
With the Skipton Big Ideas exhibition exploring some of the key issues facing society - sustainability, accessibility and identity - ArtHouse Jersey invited Islanders to get deep into the conversation and attend a series of lectures, speaking to those key themes.
All of these sessions were free of charge and were held at Jersey Library.
The featured lectures were: Inhospitable Architecture with artist Poppy Whatmore; How to Break Up With Fast Fashion with journalist Lauren Bravo; Islanders and Climate Change with Professor Ilan Kelman; Sustainable Cooking and Eating Kids Brunch with chef India Hamilton; artist Mari Keto discussing her work; Identity in Art with Cloe Freeman; and Sustainable Exhibition Design with architect Pippa Nissen.
“We are proud to partner with ArtHouse Jersey, who continue to bring arts events for the whole community in the Island to life, all of which are something the whole Island can become involved with. Skipton recognises the power of art, and its strength in bringing communities together, which is why we have supported the ArtHouse Jersey’s work for so many years. This year’s plans are exceptional, and will bring new energy and a larger platform to showcase artistic talent.”
Lorraine McLean, Mortgage Centre Manager at Skipton International
“This exhibition will be nothing short of groundbreaking for Jersey, something that will delight and inspire every corner of our community. The artists are creating installations that visitors will be able to touch and feel that will provoke conversations about the key issues Islanders face today. This is for everyone. It will be fun and welcoming with every aspect having been designed to be accessible. We look forward to welcoming Islanders to the St Helier Town Church in October.”
Tom Dingle, Director of ArtHouse Jersey
