In 2012, we hosted a large-scale, weekend-long Harvest Festival in Peterborough’s Cathedral Square. Celebrating the relationship between the city and our rural countryside, connecting people to the land and its associated Harvest rituals, whilst promoting local food and suppliers. It was a publicly engaging weekend of art and culture attracting thousands of people into the city centre, reinvigorating and transforming the ritual of Harvest. The 18-month project includes: weekend long festival, large scale participatory dinner, Harvest wain processions, mass ceilidh, farmers market, artist commissions/residencies, as well as an exhibition at Peterborough’s city Gallery and programme of wrap around events and activities, engaging people in conversations about food and Peterborough. The festival also served to highlight ecological and social sustainability, including localism, food production, food waste/sustainability, agricultural education and collective responses to the land.
Key figures include:
- 228 artists supported
- 18,722 audience members
- 2,771 participants
- 113 workshops and talks
- 272 volunteers
Image credit: Chris Porsz
Over the weekend-long celebrations, 10 newly commissioned visual and performing artists’ works were revealed, ranging from processions, sound installations and films just to name a few!
Information about the lead artists:
Lucy + Jorge Orta’s collaborative practice draws upon ecological and social sustainability issues to create artworks employing diverse media, including drawing, sculpture, installation, couture, painting, silkscreen, photography, video and light, as well as staged ephemeral interventions and performances. Amongst their most emblematic series are: Refuge Wear and Body Architecture: portable minimum habitats bridging architecture and dress; HortiRecycling: the food chain in global and local contexts; 70 x 7 The Meal: the ritual of dining and its role in community networking; Nexus Architecture: alternative modes of establishing the social link; The Gift: a metaphor for the heart and the biomedical ethics of organ donation; OrtaWater and Clouds: water scarcity and the problems arising from pollution and corporate control; Antarctica: international human rights and freer international migration; and Amazonia: the value of the natural environment to our daily lives and to our survival.
Harvest Commissioned Artists:
10 selected artists – Aisha Zia, Arianne Churchman, Caitlin Heffernan, Charlotte Bosanquet, Eloise Moody, Faye Claridge, Matt Lewis, Redhawk Logistica, Robyn Woolston and Sue Shields.
