Tatton Park Biennial: 3 May - 28 September 2008
This inaugural exhibition sets the scene for future Biennials, marking Tatton Park as a significant and innovative addition to both Cheshire and the UK’s expanding visual arts events. An outstanding array of specially commissioned artworks from emerging and mid-career artists are complemented by a significant programme of linked events, talks, symposia, workshops, education and outreach projects, artists’ performances and tours. A publication detailing the work leading up to the opening of the Biennial will be produced to coincide with the Biennial run from May to September 2008.
The programme and artworks for 2008 is curated by Danielle Arnaud and Jordan Kaplan from commissioning group Parabola, and will be installed within Tatton Park’s formal gardens and wider estate. For 2008, the Biennial focuses on Botanical Collections and Collectors. Working with a different thematic for each subsequent event, the Biennial has commissioned new artworks that respond specifically to Tatton Park’s varied spaces and historical associations, offering both cultural and interpretive value to Tatton’s many visitors. Tatton Park Biennial 2008 will be delivered as a nationally significant event, establishing itself as a renowned site for artistic investigation and offering a high-profile opportunity for artists to create new work for one of the Northwest of England’s most interesting and diverse heritage venues.
The 2008 theme of Botanical Collections and Collectors provides a direct link to Cheshire’s Year of Gardens ’08 and will offer Tatton Park’s Arboretum, Pineapple House, Conservatory, Kitchen Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Italian Garden, Fern House and Azalea collection (amongst others) as potential sites and subjects for new art production.
For 2008, 6 major commissions are augmented by a further 12 smaller-scale works, many of which ‘reveal’ themselves at different points during the Biennial’s five month run. All commissions develop enriched understandings of Tatton Park’s gardens and their legacies, both social and horticultural.
Tatton Park itself provides the continuity between the Biennials, each of which will adopt a different curatorial theme and be clearly differentiated from generic ‘art in the garden’ exhibitions. The genesis for each theme will be found in Tatton Park’s own spaces and history, with each Biennial drawing out creative responses to a particular facet of the site.
The 2008 Biennial is curated to attract a national profile in the specialist arts sector, but is also accessible and relevant to a much broader audience.
This objective is achieved through careful selection of artists and artworks and also through interpretive material and the opportunities created by the substantial Education and Access Programme.