This year Somerset Art Weeks Festival (19 September to 4 October) focuses on the theme ‘Cultural Connections,’ exploring the ties that make Somerset the rich and varied region it is today. Though we might often think of ‘culture’ as a human phenomenon, this year’s festival also celebrates the ways in which our lives and histories are shaped by our relationships with the more-than-human beings around us.
“For many years we have supported artists and audiences in examining our relationship with the natural world. It is exciting to see so many festival artists this year engaging with these themes and inviting viewers to think about our impact on and entanglement with cultures beyond the human.”
Carol Carey – Creative Director, SAW.
From the wonderful wildlife that inhabit Somerset’s waterways, to the histories of animals who inhabited our landscapes and the living traces of other forms of plant and mineral life that surround us, many of this year’s Art Weeks Festival events encourage us to think about our interconnection with non-human species and the ways we live together.
Some more-than-human highlights include:
Julia Manning, ‘The Decline of the Eels’ at Ilminster Arts Centre (venue 33)
This exhibition of relief prints follows the life-story of Somerset eels from birth, death and regeneration in the Sargasso Sea. Developed in partnership with international eel expert Andy Don, Manning’s work responds to the critically
endangered status of the european eel and their radical decline in the past 40 years both in Somerset and worldwide. Through a series of energetic and beautifully crafted prints, Manning highlights how man-made structures and practices impede the life-travels of these migrationary species and reveals Somerset’s connection to the wider world.
Nina Shishkin-Smith, ‘Our Ancestor who lived on Ham Hill’ at Ham Hill Visitors Centre (venue 43)
Working with foraged organic objects – collected on walks and whilst working the land – Shishkin-Smith creates large sculptural assemblages that seek to connect audiences to their environment. This outdoor installation is crafted from materials found in the surrounding landscape and evokes the animistic worldview of our ancestors, a sense of the life and soul in all things. The work encourages audiences to consider how prehistoric humans would have lived in this place, how they would have interacted with other forms of life, and how their culture was both similar and wildly different to the cultures we now create and participate in. Supported by SAW’s Project Development Bursary.
Sean Harris, ‘Mendip Wolves’ at Ebbor Gorge
Artist Sean Harris presents The Mendip Wolves, an immersive landscape installation at Ebbor Gorge, Mendip National Nature Reserve. Created in collaboration with conservation palaeobiologist Professor Danielle Schreve (University of Bristol), the project combines animated light, shadow, storytelling and community participation to explore wilderness, deep time and our cultural relationship with the Somerset wolf. At the heart of the installation is a mesmerising ‘magic lantern’ featuring animated paper cut-outs and prehistoric wolf bones discovered in the Mendip caves. Blending science, landscape, heritage and participation, The Mendip Wolves reflects on coexistence, belonging and humanity’s enduring relationship with the wild.
Somerset Art Weeks Festival is organised by arts charity Somerset Art Works, and will take place across the county this autumn from 19 September to 4 October. For full details of the festival programme, please visit: https://somersetartworks.org.uk/what-we-do/art-weeks/
Pic: Sean Harris, ‘Mendip Wolves’ at Ebbor Gorge
