Last weekend we were fortunate to see a preview show at The Reel Store, the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery. The Reel Store is located in the former home of the Coventry Evening Telegraph newspaper, which is also home to a boutique hotel.
The opening exhibition is Machine Memoirs: Space, by internationally acclaimed artist Refik Anadol. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to reimagine two million publicly available images of space taken by NASA satellites and telescopes, and the International Space Station, capturing the deepest regions of outer space.
A new interpretation of space, it is a truly immersive experience. A fantastic new venue for Coventry.
During the lockdown, we are very much missing welcoming visitors to our little medieval house and sharing its history. Our visitors often describe the house as a “hidden gem”, which they are delighted to discover, sometimes having passed close by for years without realising what is inside.
We are also missing enjoying the other wonderful places to explore and enjoy in Coventry. Whilst we are in lockdown, we thought we would highlight some of these great places – celebrate memories and look forward to at some point being able to visit again.
To begin with, we’ve chosen five other places we think of as being or containing ‘hidden gems’:
Lanchester Interactive Archive. This fascinating space presents the legacy of engineering genius Frederick Lanchester. Delve into the archive and see blueprints, sketchbooks, notes and correspondence. You can use augmented reality steering wheels to bring it all to life and even sit in a Lanchester car! The archive is inside Frederick Lanchester Library on Gosford Street, so when it is possible to visit again, you’ll need to sign it at their reception desk first, you can find full details here. In the meantime, there is plenty to look at online.
One of the interactive ‘steering wheels’, held over a photograph, brings details to life.
Quarry Gardens, Russell’s Garden Centre. There’s already lots to enjoy on site including a truly great cafe, light railway, and the garden centre itself, but it is easy to miss the entrance to the Quarry Gardens, a beautiful landscaped area, river walk and maze. A true secret garden, at the moment you can visit it virtually with this walkthrough video:
‘Doom’ Painting, Holy Trinity Church. A building with an impressive history, dating back to the twelfth century, if you have never had the chance to visit, it’s definitely one for the must-do list. The guides are friendly and extremely knowledgeable, there is a children’s trail and lots of interesting details, including the astonishing ‘Coventry Doom‘ which was painted before The Weaver’s House was built! The years had taken their toll on the painting, but it was spectacularly restored in 2004. Whilst the church is closed, you can take a 360 tour here.
Each year the church holds a Christmas Tree Festival.
St John’s Church, Spon Street. We’ve looked in detail before at some of the many intriguing features of this historic church. It repays a return visit as you are certain to notice something new each time, and be certain to ask one of the guides to point out some of the details such as a window that looks onto a blank wall and a door covered with ‘Green Men’. Definitely one to visit after the lockdown, as hidden away from view is a newer built area which houses the tearoom, open on selected days. It’s easy to forget that you are right in the heart of the city centre, when this is the view:
Sculpture Trail, University of Warwick campus. More ‘hidden in plain sight’ this one, as the sculptures are dotted all around the campus landscape. Whether you wander randomly or pick up a trail map to follow and find out more about each artwork, there is plenty to explore when the campus reopens to visitors. You can find out more about the sculptures here.
Days of Judgement, Cat 1.
So, there’s our first batch of hidden gems! We would love to hear about your hidden gems for when we can go exploring again. Please share your ideas with us.
The highly anticipated second Coventry Biennial will unfold across Coventry from the 4th October to the 24th November 2019. The Biennial’s title this year is The Twin and it comprises a series of exhibitions, events and activities about relationships.
We are an international city; Coventry and Volgograd, Russia, were the first modern twin cities in the world and this year marks the 75th anniversary of that historic bond of friendship.
Coventry now has 26 twins around the world and it is a city that welcomes migrants and refugees. When walking the city’s streets Punjabi, Urdu and Polish can frequently be heard alongside accents from across the West Midlands, nearby Warwickshire and Ireland.
The artists and groups exhibiting in The Twin all explore themes, ideas and processes which resonate through this international city including translation, collaboration and togetherness while also exploring some of the difficulties presented by globalisation, political inequality and conflict.
The Twin is made up of a core programme alongside a series of sister projects, which are produced in close collaboration with local, national and international partners.
Ryan Hughes, Artistic Director of Coventry Biennial explains:
“Coventry has been an international, welcoming and activist city for decades. We are thrilled to be working with artists, our twin cities and a wide variety of partners on our core programme and sister projects to explore what it means to be together in 2019.”
Embedded in Coventry Biennial 2019 are opportunities to speak to or eat with the artists, to learn a new skill, to warm yourself by a fire, to dance through the night or to ease yourself into the day with a yoga session.
It is this spirit of care and friendship which marks this as the UK’s social biennial.
The highly anticipated second Coventry Biennial will unfold across the city from the 4th October to the 24th November 2019.
The biennial team and their partners invite people to learn, look, make, talk, think and walk with them. The biennial’s title this year is The Twin and it comprises a series of exhibitions, events and activities about relationships.
We are an international city; Coventry and Volgograd, Russia, were the first modern twin cities in the world and this year marks the 75th anniversary of that historic bond of friendship.
Coventry now has 26 twins around the world and is known as a city that welcomes migrants and refugees. When walking the city’s streets Punjabi, Urdu and Polish can frequently be heard alongside accents from across the West Midlands, nearby Warwickshire and Ireland.
The artists and groups exhibiting in The Twin all explore themes, ideas and processes which resonate through this international city including translation, collaboration and togetherness, while also exploring some of the difficulties presented by globalisation, political inequality and conflict.
In the exhibition at The Weaver’s House, the biennial brings together artworks which explore working conditions in industrial-era Poland and which reference living spaces in Muslim homes. These works handle approaches to weaving in very different ways, resonating with the historic context of The Weaver’s House.
Nilupa Yasmin, Grow me a waterlily 1
Ryan Hughes, Artistic Director of Coventry Biennial explains:
“Weaving played a huge role in Coventry’s growth. It’s a historic process shared by many communities around the world. We are delighted to be working with artists to explore the impact and legacy of this process in a contemporary way.”
Artists who will be presenting work at The Weaver’s House during Coventry Biennial 2019 include:
Anna Molska, Mathew Parkin, Nilupa Yasmin
Embedded in the wider Coventry Biennial 2019 programme are opportunities to speak to or eat with the artists, to learn a new skill, to warm yourself by a fire, to dance through the night or to ease yourself into the day with a yoga session.
It is this spirit of care and friendship which marks this as the UK’s social biennial.
We enjoyed a sunny September for the first Heritage Open Days weekend of 2019, the 25th anniversary year of the festival.
On the Saturday we, and visitors, were treated to an extra slice of culture as The Weaver’s House hosted part of the Spon Spun Arts & Heritage Trail in the form of an exhibition by Karen-Rose-Textiles.
The Spon Spun exhibition featured artworks entitled ‘Scir Burna’ (Clear Stream in Old English) representing the river Sherbourne that flows through and under the city. The pieces representing the ‘life giving force’ of the river are made from naturally dyed felted wool and were accompanied by a soundscape during the installation.
The river itself would have been used for washing and dyeing in the time when the house was lived in by the medieval weaver and family. The artworks, created especially for display in The Weaver’s House, connects the river and the history of Coventry’s weaving, dyeing and spinning industry and the house’s previous residents. The pieces also pay homage to the dye colour Coventry Blue “as true as Coventry blue.”
Earlier in 2019 Karen was commissioned by Artspace Coventry and Spon Spun to plan and deliver a community based intergenerational project linking together The Weaver’s House and the pupils from neighbouring Spon Gate Primary School. The project introduced pupils from year 3 and 4 to the ancient craft of weaving and its strong links with medieval Coventry. They also visited The Weaver’s House and learnt some weaving techniques from the Weavers’ Workshop.
There are little references to weaving and textiles dotted around Coventry, for example in public art and architecture. Here are a few to begin with (do you recognise them all?)
This one is called Thread Through Time and is located in the Bull Yard.
The blue arches on this bridge are reminiscent of ribbons… in the shade of Coventry Blue?
This incised carving of a loom is on a pillar in the Precinct, but do you know whereabouts?
Does this looping strip of blue path represent a ribbon, or is it the Sherbourne? Both play a role in Coventry’s textile heritage.
There are more of course and doubtless some that we haven’t seen – please do share your pics (all images will be credited) and help us build a picture of where and when Coventry’s weaving heritage has been celebrated! Public art, buildings, street names… a wander around on the upcoming Heritage Open Days would be the ideal place to start…
