People are being invited to view an art installation exploring the subject of grief at St John’s Church in Lancaster.
The church on North Street is hosting the installation, as Lancaster Arts welcome back Fabiola Santana to continue her exploration of the subject.
A Place for Grief is part of a three-year cultural programme, ‘Mill Race: Flow of Change’, which celebrates the Mill Race area as a core and dynamic part of Lancaster that is informed by its heritage as well as its emerging, present-day character.
The installation contains a collection of audio-visual artworks, featuring five quilted maps: these maps chart grief landscapes that we may find inside ourselves. This collection forms a space of warmth and reflection, where you are welcome to listen, to look, and offer your own experiences if you wish.
A Place for Grief explores the loss of others, but also touches on what it might mean to lose a connection to place. The Mill Race area has lost connections to its past identity. Many buildings lie derelict (some damaged by recent floods), carparks exist where housing once was, and there are few places to gather or assemble. It has the feeling of a throughway, as the city's one way system cuts across it.
A Place for Grief asks, how can we grieve this lost part of the city, and reimagine it for our future? In what ways does our encounter with these places offer new opportunities to reflect on grief, disconnection, and memory? This feels particularly resonant given the horrors and loss resulting from current global conflicts.
Fabiola says: “I am very excited to bring A Place for Grief to the beautiful St. John’s Church.
‘’Audiences in Lancaster have been following my project on grief since 2018 through Lancaster Arts. It is a pleasure to reconnect with local people through this new sensitive installation, that speaks to the feelings we experience through bereavement, and that so many of us have collectively felt in the past couple of years. Hopefully by sharing these experiences we can feel less alone”.
Alice Booth, producer, adds: “The atmosphere, acoustics and history of St. John’s Church makes it an apt place to explore the themes of grief and bereavement. Fabiola’s piece is beautiful, gentle and moving… I really recommend that people come along to see and hear it for themselves.”
The installation runs from Monday 25 to Sat 30 April at various times. Please check out the Lancaster Arts website for full details – you can book or just show up.
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