A wooden terraced house with a grass roof will be travelling the Leeds and Liverpool canal from 23 May to 8 June 2013. The project coincides with a significant £2 million award from Arts Council England which secures the future of art projects on the region’s inland waterways.
The Ark is a newly commissioned floating sculture by Beth Derbyshire, working in partnership with Creativity Works and the Canal & River Trust, and a taster of the art projects that will take place in the area over the next three years. In 2012 Beth Derbyshire presented the Rootless Forest in Birmingham and the Black Country, a floating mini-forest made of real trees and soil planted on a narrow boat that travelled along the Birmingham Canals.
The Ark is built to resemble the typical terraced housing of the area, and will travel on a two week journey from Blackburn to Brierfield, stopping at towns along the way including Burnley and Clayton-le-Moors. The wooden Ark references the heritage, landscape and people of Pennine Lancashire. Its intricate wall carvings are inspired by the Paisley textile pattern, a nod to the influx of South Asian immigrants who came to Lancashire in the 1960s and 70s to work in the textile industry, whilst the roof is a living meadow derived from grasses found in the region’s disused quarries.
Inside The Ark, five films, The Keepers, follow local people ranging from fell runners, steam operatives, a former mill worker, a park officer, a heritage enthusiast, an Asian interpreter and a retired teacher who all have a special connection to the area. As well as travelling on the canal, The Ark structure will also mysteriously pop up in Blackburn and Burnley town centres as it passes by, bringing the landscape directly into the urban town centre.
As the Ark passes through each community there will be a programme of educational activities for all ages, exploring nature and the Pennine Lancashire landscape. Currents, will include activities ranging from artists’ talks, workshops and photography walks, to town planting activities and bee-keeping talks.
In May it was announced that the Leeds and Liverpool Canal will be the centrepiece of a creative corridor for the arts, as the Canal & Rivers Trust with their regional partners have been awarded £2 million of funding from Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme. The money will connect the communities that live on and alongside the canal and beyond through high profile, world-class arts and events over the next three years. The successful funding bid will be celebrated and plans for its forthcoming programme announced at the launch of the Ark in Blackburn on Monday 20 May 2013.
For more information on the project, associated events and full schedule please visit: www.thearklancashire.co.uk. Images courtesy of Caroline Eccles.