- Venue
- Belton House, National Trust
- Starts
- Wednesday, November 11, 2015
- Ends
- Sunday, March 6, 2016
- Address
- Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG32 2LS
- Location
- East Midlands
- Organiser
- Belton House, National Trust
Rehearsing Memory, Belton 2015 explores what might mean to commemorate, in the sense of bringing to memory, the broad and complex histories and stories of the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) training camp, here in the present. In contrast with traditional monumental commemorations, this project uses a reflective and exploratory approach to address the context and details of the MGC on Belton Parklands, and how it is commemorated and remembered by Belton’s community. Focusing on Belton now, the artists Belén Cerezo and Rebecca Lee have worked across and within the wide programme of events (archaeological digs, talks, exhibitions, archival research and re-enactments) that took place at Belton House during summer 2015.
More specifically, some of the issues that artists have tackled are the scale of the camp, the complexity of training for war, the role of memory in imagining the future and the part that Belton park plays in storing memories. This way, Rehearsing Memory, Belton 2015 exceeds historical accounts offering new angles and proposes that memory is an ongoing and active process that also encompasses experience.
Rehearsing Memory, Belton 2015 is composed of four parts that are presented in different spaces at Belton House, the parkland and beyond. The moving image work, film, audio walk and printed piece function on their own as well as forming part of a whole.
“Since the beginning of the project we kept in mind Walter Benjamin’s critical discourse on the relation between history, images and the practice of montage. For this thinker, the past is something present and important for the future and artworks can provide glimpses of alternative futures by the juxtaposition of images/sounds from the past and present. Benjamin considers that history is not just knowledge, but also action and practice“.
For further information go to http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/belton-house/features/rehearsing-memory-belton-2015 or contact Sam Gee, marketing and events officer at Belton House at [email protected].
Artists
Belén Cerezo is a Spanish artist who lives in Nottingham. Within her work, photography operates as the guiding notion and she explores the uses and functions of images paying attention to photographs’ materiality. Belén has exhibited in various galleries and art centres in the UK. She is an associate lecturer in the Photography Department at Nottingham Trent University where she is also undertaking a practice-led PHD study.
Rebecca Lee is a musician and artist working with sound and experimental music. She studied music at the University of Nottingham and has performed and exhibited throughout the UK. Her work includes performances, installations, film scores, broadcasts and publications. She is interested in the way that sound and music relate to time and place. Rebecca is an associate artist at Fermynwoods Contemporary Art.
Both artists are based at Primary, Nottingham
Trust New Art
Rehearsing Memory, Belton 2015 project is supported by the National Trust’s Trust New Art programme. Working in partnership with Arts Council England, Trust New Art supports programmes such as Rehearsing Memory, Belton 2015 and exhibitions connecting visitors to special places through contemporary art.
