Artcore – November 2022

From vibrant celebrations to exquisite exhibitions, Artcore has been buzzing with excitement this October! As we begin November, we have an even more exciting line up of events.

Starting from this month, we are dedicating one Friday of the month to ‘The Switch Off’. The Switch Off is a monthly event where we invite all people, from working professionals, to students, to families, to those who are retired to come to the Artcore Gallery and just wind down and relax. Many of us are always constantly busy. The Switch Off can be a great way to take a break, to let loose, to give our bodies and minds the rest it needs, to forget about the worries and just enjoy an evening filled with music, poetry, art activities, great food and more.

The awaited Partition Parables exhibition will be taking place on November 25th! We have had our artists in residence, Rachel Magdeburg and Tarla Patel working for the past few months on accumulating a body of work. Rachel. Rachel hopes that the residency will present a wonderful chance to explore new work in and for a different space. “Meeting people from an unfamiliar community affords connection and exchange that is both daunting and exciting”.Tarla’s work has been focused on how people keep their connections to home. Her project hopes to look at this connection of migration and belonging through the domesticated stories of small-time agriculture. Through the nurturing of plants and flora, families have kept their link to a faraway country alive, and the cultivation of traditions and memories. She documents these stories through the use of lens-based media.

We also have had artist Lia Fox-Griffiths exhibit her first solo project at the Artcore Gallery; ““Illuminating Endangered Creatures in Silk”.
The project focused on raising awareness of vulnerable and endangered species, and the importance of conservation. The paintings in this exhibition were designed with silk, depicting each species within their natural environment and exploring the art of nature. The exhibition consists of 12 paintings which were created using the Batik technique, a method which uses wax to act as a resist for coloured dyes. As part of her project, Lia also offered a community workshop to engage participants to think about their natural environment and the beauty of nature, while creating their own piece of silk art inspired by the themes of the project.

During October, Artcore has been full of colour and celebration. We transformed Osnabruck square into a joyful and vibrant festival space, celebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lights, with the local community. People from a diverse range of backgrounds also came together for our Navratri event and danced Garba and Dandiya all night. The atmosphere was energising and electric!

Our ‘Crosspoint’ exhibition showcased the work of Derby University’s MA students with a diverse and compelling range of work from Fine Art, Film and Photography. We have also launched some new and exciting projects this month including our ‘Art of Healing’ workshops, which support people from diverse communities, building positive networks through the exploration of arts and crafts.

BBC Radio Derby launched their ‘Make a Blanket’ campaign and we are pleased to be hosting a weekly ‘Knit and Natter’ session at our Art Gallery Café (every Tuesday 1pm – 3pm) inviting people to knit. Even if you make little squares, your work will be made into blankets and donated to those who are most in need this winter. You can come along even if you have no knitting experinece. There are many people to help you and what a great way to make some new friends while making a difference!