This weekend, Wirksworth Festival will present an impressive line-up of debate and conversation as part of the festival’s visual arts programme. Situated two miles to the south of the Peak District National Park boundary, and four miles from Matlock, Wirksworth is a small rural market town, offering both beautiful Derbyshire countryside and a charming local history. Perhaps surprisingly, it is also home to a lively art festival – one that is spearheaded by its local community.
The festival’s current form dates from 1995, when a group of local artists opened their own homes to display their work. Since then, the festival has gone from strength to strength; it now encompasses a broad-ranging programme of visual arts and performance spanning 17 days, over three weekends, annually in September.
“For a rural community, Wirksworth has an unusually large creative community,” says Rose Lejeune, curator of this year’s festival. “In fact 5% of its population, or 8.8% of its workforce, is employed in the creative industries. The festival supports the development of this community as a fundamental part of the economic life of the town. Increasingly, a new generation, a new creative workforce, have grown up with the festival and are now making their mark upon it.”
For the 2013 event, Lejeune has commissioned ten new works by international and regional artists. These include Emily Speed, Hannah Maybank, Rachael Champion and Johannes Vogl, plus a showcase of Staffordshire University graduates at the local Parish Room.
“At the heart of the festival is its rural focus, with many artworks located in unusual outside spaces,” says Lejeune. “Whilst providing a platform for the work of young and emerging artists, Wirksworth Festival also aims to make a positive contribution to the community and economy of the area.”
Emily Speed has made a film, The Construction Workers, for the festival. “It is a chance to really explore the town and work with some local people on a project,” she says. “My work was made thinking about the structure of the community in a small place, and the fragile nature of those relationships.”
Conversations with the community
Complementing the exhibited work is this weekend’s Middle Weekend Visual Art Focus – a series of conversations between the artists and people from the local area. On Saturday, Speed will be chatting to Derby University’s Eleni Tracada about the relationship between the body, dance, movement and architecture.
On Sunday, the talks will delve into the landscape that surrounds Wirksworth. Artist Rachael Champion will be in conversation with mineral engineer and geologist Andy Littler from local company Longcliffe Quarries Ltd, discussing the impact quarries have both on society and the environment. Hannah Maybank will be in conversation with Margaret Pearson, a local well dresser.
In addition, Lejeune is co-curating a performance programme with Reactor Halls, a collective from Nottingham. This will feature recycled footage, resampled sounds, reclaimed materials and rescued technology that will transform Wirksworth Town Hall into a ‘decedent den of anachronism’.
“There is certainly a lot to engage with [at the festival],” says Lejeune. “The talks are not only a chance to place the work in an art-historical context, but also to develop links with local people. It flips the question from what can the festival give the local community, to what can the community give the festival.”
Wirksworth Festival continues until 22 September. www.wirksworthfestival.co.uk
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