Tickets go on sale from today to see newly created work Face.Masks which is part of a reimagined Winter Droving festival. The work is a large-scale projection that will feature on St Andrews Church, across the four nights in Penrith from 28th – 31st October 2020.
As the usual festival activities have been cancelled due to Coronavirus, Eden Arts, the organisers of the Winter Droving released a call out to community groups, businesses and members of the public to nominate people around the theme of care.
Out of over 100 nominations, around 50 members of the Penrith and Eden community have photographed and filmed Cumbrian artist Zoe Forster to take part in the piece. The work celebrates the community’s acts of kindness and care and showcases the people of the area that have gone above and beyond.
The event will also feature another projection work The Faery Trail by Lucas Chih-Peng Kao who was an artist in residence at Eden Arts as part of the company’s artist spare room project.
Adrian Lochhead, Director of Eden Arts commented ‘We really wanted to do something special for this year’s Winter Droving as we were unable to do the usual event. Through the public call out over 100 people have been nominated and it’s fantastic to hear all the stories and how people in the community go above and beyond in their jobs, for their friends and neighbours and also strangers. We really do have a fantastic community here and it is a great opportunity to be able to showcase that this year. It also gives us the opportunity to work with talented young Cumbrian artists like Zoe Forster and Richie Johnston, giving them the opportunity to develop their practice in a Cumbrian setting, something that we need to see more of if we are to retain and encourage local talent.’
To see the projections you must book an entry timeslot so Eden Arts can safely monitor capacity and maintain social distancing. The churchyard projections will be open each evening between 18:00 – 21:00.
Eden Arts have undertaken extensive planning in conjunction with officers from Cumbria Police and Eden District Council and are working to all regulations and government guidelines to make this a Covid secure event, however, rules and guidance may change and plans might have to change. If the event needs to be postponed Eden Arts will let ticket holders know as soon as possible. Safety is the number one priority.
For more information and to book tickets please go to www.edenarts.co.uk/wd2020
Eden Arts are asking for donations to support The Winter Droving going forward and Eden Arts work, as with many other arts and cultural organisations their income has been affected by the COVID pandemic and future work is at risk.
The Winter Droving events this year have been supported by Arts Council England, Cumbria County Council, Eden District Council, Penrith BID and Pride in Penrith Lottery.
