Tatton Park Biennial: Education & Access
The Biennial is committed to the development of meaningful and lasting work for new audiences. An active outreach programme has delivered curated film events, collaborations between a Biennial-hosted artist and Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, a series of five artist residencies with local primary schools, a series of artist-curated events, and artists’ & curators’ walks, talks, tours and workshops in the grounds.
Over several weekends, Shane worked with Biennial visitors to make a series of bespoke birdfeeders, a selection of which now hang in the trees of Charlotte’s Garden. Birds and squirrels are very pleased with the feeders, as are the gardeners, who say the birds are leaving the kitchen produce in favour of Waltener’s home-made fatballs!
During the Biennial, artists have been invited to share their inspirations for new works in a series of talks and tours. Since May, David Cotterrell, Heather Morison and Jo Coupe have all presented their works to audiences in discussions and walking tours, outlining Biennial narratives and their own unique perspectives on the grounds.
David’s work for the Biennial has encompassed video, performance and Manga. His film is shown during selected weekends as part of the artists’ video programme. Two performances of his Barefoot Lone Pilgrim: Samurai Story have taken place in Tatton’s renowned Japanese Garden and the accompanying Manga, produced with Daniel Locke, was presented to the public in July.
Over several weekends, Faye photographed Biennial visitors, each looking in to the Tower Garden’s Mirror Pool. Working with props, ideas about travel, time and ambition, participants enabled new works to be created, a selection of which will be shown in the Mansion from 23 August.
Gayle developed a Sensory Tour for the Biennial, leading participants blindfolded through the kitchen gardens to experience and interpret the produce, smells and sensations of Tatton Park through drawing, discussion and visualisations that mirror her work for the Biennial.
Simon’s work for the Biennial saw a collaboration with watercolourist Mike Hoyles. Working with Biennial visitors, the pair toured the grounds of Tatton asking participants to remember what they were seeing. The resulting works are a series of paintings rendered by Mike which reflect the remembrances of visitors to the gardens.
Based in Hong Kong, Kongkee was invited to the UK by the Biennial, working in collaboration with Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester. Kongkee worked with older members of Manchester’s Chinese community to develop a new animation reflecting on the nature of species movement, whether human or botanical. The film can be seen during the Biennial weekends’ artists’ video programme.
Simon developed residencies with local schools in Cheshire and Manchester, delivering new works and interpretations from younger Biennial participants.
Woolham worked with the school hosting a visit to Tatton Park and developing
posters with
thirty Year 5 pupils from Wythenshawe. These works were widely distributed
to schools, cultural and arts organisations in the region.
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| Tatton Park visit | ||
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| back at school | ||
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| children's drawings |
Working with the theme, ‘Imagine a Place’, Woolham’s workshops produced drawings from rubbings taken from Tatton’s grounds.
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| making the Den | ||
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| rubbing |
Woolham brought children to the Biennial and worked with them to develop critiques of the artworks. The pupils’ discussions are influencing an intervention that uses the school’s garden and its surroundings as host sites.
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| I am a Critic |
Playing with the B-Movie poster as a possible starting point for investigating Tatton’s specimens, Woolham helped pupils to make their own works, using new Photoshop skills. The artist is now developing a ‘Sound Orchestra’ collaboration with pupils.
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| B-Movie posters |
Over the summer months, Jacques Nimki has opened up his Tatton florilegium to fellow artists, inviting each to develop new works in response to his greenhouse.
On 25 May, Savage produced The Destructors, a sonic work that produced an hourly explosion of breaking glass through the gardens.
On 7 June, Steve Rushton worked throughout the day with visitors developing site-specific poetry that was placed amongst the trees and water of the Mercury Pool.
On 19 July, Jonathan Swain unleashed his Smoker, a ‘fumigation’ of Nimki’s greenhouse, timed to coincide with scripted incidents from Swain’s life, each relating to his experiences of glass on fire.