For immediate release
Redruth’s major new visual arts festival announces full programme
- Free tickets will be available for a major new visual arts festival for the Duchy
- Running from 21-22 October 2023, the festival brings internationally important work to Cornwall
- Four Cornwall-based artists have been commissioned to make new work for the event
- Part of Creative Kernow’s Extraordinary Art in Everyday Places Project, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
Flamm Festival, the major new arts festival in Redruth, has announced their full programme – and festival highlights include an art rave in a former quarry, a new metro line in Redruth and the creation of musical instruments from Cornish minerals.
This free festival offers a wide-ranging programme of temporary public artwork, exhibitions, performances and workshops throughout Redruth – including a screening of Turner Prize nominee Heather Phillipson’s new commission Dreamland at the Regal Cinema.
Flamm – a partnership between Creative Kernow and London-based Art Night which puts the Cornish creative arts scene firmly on the national agenda – will have its inaugural event funded by Cornwall Council’s Good Growth Shared Prosperity Fund on 21 and 22 October 2023.
Four Cornwall-based artists have received commissions to exhibit at the festival, and the partnership with Art Night bring two major commissions from multi-media artist Phillipson and sound artist and composer Richy Carey to the county.
Festival highlights from the Cornwall-based artists include electronic dance music performance in Holman Quarry just outside Redruth – courtesy of Abigail Reynold’s Core, an art rave made by sampling a quarry that replicates the former rhythms of industry with contemporary electronic beats – and the imagining of a new metro line in Redruth, from the mind of Patrick Lowry.
Sovay Berriman explores Cornish identity and its relationship with heritage and land, while Then Try This invites you to make music from the crystal minerals of Cornwall.
Patrick Lowry, one of the commissioned artists, said: “This feels like a significant event for both Redruth and the wider art scene in the southwest. Redruth has an art ecology that has developed over several years, with local artists working together as well as reaching out to national and international artists to help establish a vibrant contemporary art dynamic.
He added: “The Flamm weekend is adding another exciting dimension to this, both in the artists involved and the connection to the well-respected London-based Art Night putting the Cornish contemporary creative arts firmly on the national agenda. It is apparent that Flamm is already acting as a catalyst for the longer-term growth and connectivity for the art scene in the region.”
Scottish artist Richy Carey is working with local choir group Tuesday Night Fun Club to add a musical element to his major commission.
He said: “It’s a joy to have been invited to show my work alongside the other artists taking part in Flamm. Even though I live in the other end of the UK, the Cornish music scene is one I’ve long kept an ear out for – my cousin and uncle are both local composers who’ve certainly shaped the kind of music I make from afar.
“I’m very excited about being able to spend time in the place that’s so important to my family, to meet and make music with a new community of voices who I’ve no doubt will change the ways I hear the world again.”
Further events and projects led by local creatives and communities will also happen throughout the town during the festival weekend.
From browsing the festival shop featuring the work of artists in Cornwall to taking part in creative workshops, from musical performances around Redruth to discovering pop-up exhibitions and installations from other artists in Cornwall, there will be a whole host of arts experiences for members of the public to enjoy.
Tonia Lu, programme producer for Flamm and representing Creative Kernow, said: “We are so excited to reveal the full programme for Flamm – there’s some incredible work and festivalgoers are in for a real treat. The commissions from our Cornwall-based artists really resonate to the stories and heritage of the local community, and the commissions from Heather and Richy will give our visitors the chance to engage with nationally and internationally important work.
She added: “There is so much going on around Redruth that weekend –the communities in Redruth came together for this and added great depth to the programme. As well as our six main artists’ brand new work, we are working with a variety of local groups to showcase artists both based in Redruth and from other parts of Cornwall. There will be a great celebratory atmosphere across the town that weekend, with the chance for everyone to explore and experience lots of different venues and find something new in each one”
Flamm is part of Creative Kernow’s Extraordinary Art in Everyday Places project which has received £327,500 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The festival is also funded by European Structural and Investment Fund, Arts Council England, and Cornwall Council via the Cultivator programme.
Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council cabinet portfolio holder for the economy, said: “It’s exciting to see how the Shared Prosperity funding, coming from the £132m Good Growth Programme which is delivering the UK Shared Prosperity Fund here in Cornwall and Scilly, is being put to such good use. The amazing events being delivered as part of Flamm highlight the strong communities and places at the heart of this inclusive festival celebrating Cornwall-based artists, while shining a national and international spotlight on the Cornish arts scene.”
Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
The programme can be found in full here and tickets are now available to book – they’re free of charge but advance booking is essential to reserve your place:
ENDS
Media Enquiries
Tonia Lu, Programme Producer for Flamm, is available for interviews and further comment. The artists can also be interviewed on request., as can Jack Morrison, Director of Creative Communities, Creative Kernow.
All requests to be directed to:
Lauren Webb
Roscoe Communications
07915 083079
Photography
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/dtj7cv8pvg4iiphrp23a4/h?rlkey=867q58wcq3g927hzzaa7pbc5e&dl=0
Editorial Notes
Art Night
Art Night is a biennial contemporary art festival presenting ambitious new work by artists at pivotal moments in their career. Art Night takes place in public spaces and civic buildings. The festival is free and everyone is welcome.
Our model, as a national, nomadic and biannual festival, is rooted in the communities we work within. We champion the possibilities of decentralisation, working with local groups and artist run spaces to write their own narratives. We partner with local organisations and practitioners to ensure our programme is embedded in place. We present critically excellent and experimental work by artists to bring meaningful experiences to a wide range of audiences.
In June 2023 Art Night delivered its first full iteration in a city outside London. We presented ten major commissions by internationally significant artists and more emergent artists in civic and public spaces across Dundee, Scotland, alongside Inwith – a series of projects highlighting a cross section of Dundee’s expansive art and communities programming.
Creative Kernow
Creative Kernow is the creative and cultural sector support organisation for Cornwall. Part funded by Arts Council England and Cornwall Council, we are one of Cornwall’s key creative industries organisations.
Our support includes:
- Providing affordable workspace
- Developing skills and knowledge
- Helping clients to demonstrate their business viability
- Producing and distributing creative work
- Building networks and confidence
- Co-creating transformative cultural projects with communities in Cornwall
- Making national and international connections
- Reaching new audiences, markets and opportunities
Shared Prosperity Fund
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus
Artist Notes
Sovay Berriman
Sovay Berriman takes a participative and collaborative approach to exploring significant social issues through her art. Her thought-provoking projects encourage dialogue from different perspectives, building new relationships and producing multi-layered, nuanced yet relatable works. She is currently engaged in an Arts Council England-funded endeavour called MESKLA | Brewyon Drudh, launched in 2022. This project delves into modern Cornish identity and culture, beginning with focused community engagement in Redruth.
Richy Carey
Richy Carey is a sound artist and composer who lives in the Isle of Skye. He works collaboratively with artists and communities to create soundtracks and soundscapes – making communal sounds that explore ecologies of authorship, agency and empathy through listening and sounding together.
Patrick Lowry
Patrick Lowry’s work is predominantly installation-based, often site-specific responding to the particular context. Much of the work relates to our relationship with the built environment, public and domestic places and spaces. and how these environments both reflect and affect the way we conduct our lives. Using processes of replication and displacement he explores how, by moving aspects of an environment to a new context, this may allow a renewed assessment of the subject and its relevance, both culturally and in its physicality.
Heather Phillipson
Heather Phillipson was nominated for the Turner Prize 2022. Her recent solo exhibitions include Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries commission, London (2021–22) and the Fourth Plinth commission, Trafalgar Square (2020–22). In 2024 she will produce a new commission for the Imperial War Museum in partnership with Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea.
Abigail Reynolds
Based at Porthmeor Studios St. Ives, Abigail Reynolds reworks historic images and events using techniques such as folding and overlay, bringing forgotten things to light for reinterpretation. In 2021-22, her sculpture, film, and event-based work was featured in the British Art Show, defining new directions in contemporary art. In 2022, her permanent library window commission was unveiled at Kresen Kernow. In 2016, Reynolds won the BMW Art Journey prize at Art Basel to visit lost libraries on the Silk Road, documented in her 2018 book ‘Lost Libraries’ (Hatje Cantz). Reynolds’ work breathes new life into history.
Then Try This
Then Try This is a non-profit research organisation based in Penryn, Cornwall which likes making complex subjects easier to access and understand. Whether that’s by designing a new piece of open-source research equipment, making a game to understand a complex scientific concept, or running workshops to help people work better together across boundaries. All our work is open source, and much of it is rooted in rural issues.
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