A two-week exhibition of my Cornish paintings and collages
in west London’s new gallery space
CORNWALL at Elephant West, London
CORNWALL at Elephant West presents work by artist Amy Shuckburgh which will transport visitors to the rugged south-west coast for two weeks this summer. The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of talks, workshops, screenings and performances, involving writers, artists, theatre and puppetry troupes, musicians, dancers and charities.
Curated by Amy Shuckburgh in Elephant West’s new gallery (in a converted petrol station near the former BBC building in Shepherds Bush, west London) CORNWALL at Elephant West creates a dynamic exchange between London and the south-west coast.
“I love Amy Shuckburgh’s work. She has a lyrical sense of colour, which coupled with her evident passion for the landscape, make this show instantly engaging. Whether it’s the wooded valleys and fishing villages of the south coast, or the wilder, windier north coast, these pictures capture the magic of Cornwall. ”
— Lady Antonia Fraser
Catalogue of work available online soon
TALKS, WORKSHOPS AND PERFORMANCES
Saturday 27th June 2pm and 5pm
The Mousehole Cat, puppet show performed by Cousin Jack’s
with an introduction by Cornwall Hugs Grenfell
The Cornish legend of the Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber will be brought to life by Cornish puppetry troupe Cousin Jack’s. The show will use live-action and magical puppetry to tell the tale of fisherman Tom and his loyal cat Mowzer. Faced with a terrible winter, no one has been able to go out to fish and soon the villagers start to starve. Fearless Tom and Mowzer brave the storm together and the cat's purring calms the sea.
Will they bring back enough fish to feed all the hungry people of Mousehole?
Tickets available soon @ Elephant West / eventbrite
Sunday 28th June 6.30 (for 7pm start) - 9pm
Philip Marsden in conversation with Amy Shuckburgh
Writer Philip Marsden will be in conversation with artist Amy Shuckburgh.
Philip's latest book The Summer Isles is about a voyage by wooden boat from Cornwall up the west coast of Ireland to the north of Scotland. In it, he explores the dislocation of life on the water, as well as the shifting realities of Celtic lands. He will speak about sailing single-handed, exploring islands both real and imagined. “The ability to believe in places that are invisible, to build stories around them and inhabit them, remains the defining attribute of our species.”
Philip Marsden and Amy Shuckburgh will discuss Cornwall, its layered histories, its appeal and its mystery.
Tickets available soon @ Elephant West / eventbrite
Philip Marsden
Amy Shuckburgh
Tuesday 7th July 6.30 (for 7pm start) - 9pm
Lamorna Ash in conversation with Rachael Allain and Amy Shuckburgh
Lamorna Ash
Rachael Allain
Writer Lamorna Ash will speak about her book, Dark Salt Clear: Life in a Fishing Village, about her time spent working on a fishing rig in Newlyn on the far west coast of Cornwall. The book began life as an article for the Times Literary Supplement, and it will be Book of the Week on Radio 4 in March.
Rachael Allain is an artist/researcher based in the west country. Her work uses experimental sound and film to explore the ocean as habitat and phenomenon. Together with artist and curator Amy Shuckburgh, they will consider the significance of our seas to our island identity and our place in the world through a less land-locked lens.
Tickets available soon through Elephant West/eventbrite
More about the contributors
Philip Marsden is an award-winning writer. Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, his work has been translated into 15 languages. After years of travelling he now lives on the upper tidal reaches of the river Fal in Cornwall with his wife, two children and various boats. He will speak about his latest book The Summer Isles, as well as more generally about Cornwall, including his books Rising Ground: A Search for the Spirit of Place, and The Levelling Sea: The Story of a Cornish Haven in the Age of Sail. 'A truly remarkable writer', Robert Macfarlane. www.philipmarsden.co.uk
Lamorna Ash's first book, Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Village, is published this March by Bloomsbury. Ash has written seven plays that have toured Edinburgh, Oxford and London, winning several competitions and receiving much acclaim. She writes for the Times Literary Supplement and TANK Magazine. ‘The birth of a new star of non-fiction’, William Dalrymple curtisbrown.co.uk/client/lamorna-ash
Rachael Allain is an artist/researcher based the west country. Her multidisciplinary practice incorporates both experimental still and moving image, sound and installation. Recent work involved recording the sound made by plankton ingesting micro-plastics in the ocean. She has recently completed a residency at The Lizard, Cornwall and will be on a residency in The Arctic immediately before her talk at Elephant West. rachaelallain.wixsite.com/rachael-allain-
Amy Shuckburgh is an award-winning artist, working in oil paint, pastel and collage, to make distinctive landscapes, still life, figurative work. Amy grew up in London and spent family holidays in Cornwall, with her Cornish relatives. Her immersive look at the south-west coast, its tides, weather, mystery, dangers and dislocations, transports the viewer to the far reaches of the Duchy, conjuring the windswept cliff tops as well as the everyday inland scenery of Cornwall. ‘I love Amy Shuckburgh’s work. She has a lyrical sense of colour, which coupled with her evident passion for the landscape, make this show instantly engaging. Whether it’s the wooded valleys and fishing villages of the south coast, or the wilder, windier north coast, these pictures capture the magic of Cornwall,’ Lady Antonia Fraser www.amyshuckburgh.com
Cousin Jack’s is a Cornish puppetry company creating inspiring work for family audiences. Formed in 2008 by Cornishman Guy Watson, it focuses on sharing stories with people of all ages. The Mousehole Cat is based on the Cornish legend, which Antonia Barber has retold in a much-loved children's book. With magical puppetry and live-action, The Mousehole Cat tells the story of a fearless fisherman and his devoted cat who together face a terrible storm to bring fish home to a hungry community. ‘This is our family ritual. It’s spellbinding’. www.cousinjacks.org
Cousin Jack’s The Mousehole Cat
Kneehigh Theatre is an international touring theatre company based in Cornwall. Started in 1980, Kneehigh today is renowned for defying expectation and breaking rules. Performances happen on cliff-tops, in preaching pits, in quarries and up trees. For the last decade, writer and Kneehigh associate artist Anna Maria Murphy has been crossing Cornwall, collecting and wildly exaggerating, the stories she finds along the way. Ten years and 200 stories later, Kneehigh have a unique tapestry of Cornwall and the people that live there. The stories have been turned into village hall shows and pop up performances, animations and moving postcards, several books, and an app. Some have been translated into Cornish. Kneehigh's Walk With Me short film series will be shown throughout the exhibition at Elephant West.
Behennah's The Bakers: Walk With Me Moving Postcards | Kneehigh
WildArt Cornwall offers therapeutic sculpture workshops to those suffering mental health issues or trauma. It is run by Patrick Mcwilliam, an ex-serviceman and trained artist, who uses creative art as a medium for restoring peace to troubled minds. WildArt work regularly with Help for Heros, and with Cornwall Hugs Grenfell. www.wildartcornwall.co.uk
Cornwall Hugs Grenfell is a Cornish charity offering respite holidays to Grenfell Tower survivors, and the bereaved, with over 480 holidays provided so far. The initiative started in the Cornish fishing village of Mousehole, which suffered its own community tragedy with the Penlee lifeboat disaster in 1981. Strangely, after the charity began, links between the communities of Cornwall and West London were discovered to go back hundreds of years with streets like Camborne Mews and Cornwall Crescent in W11 revealing the historical ties. The Grenfells are, in fact, an old Cornish family and Mousehole has its very own, 200 year old, granite Grenfell Street. Poignantly, this now bears a special street sign, unveiled by Grenfell families to celebrate the new solidarity and sisterhood between the two communities. Cornwall Hugs Grenfell will be showing their new film, 'Two Communities, One Heart' about their work, and will introduce the Cousin Jack’s production of Antonia Barber’s famous Cornish tale, The Mousehole Cat www.cornwallhugsgrenfell.org
Karim Massilhy, Vice Chair, Grenfell United, in Mousehole Cornwall
Hevva are one of Cornwall’s most respected Traditional Dance Troupes. They perform in traditional costume and run dance displays, music, song, costume presentation and participatory dancing. www.www.hevva.co.uk
Hevva Traditional Cornish Dance Troupe
Kernow in the City are a group for expat Cornish men and women in London. They will provide Cornish language workshops and the Shall'ee Shanty singers, an amateur group of Cornish singers performing traditional sea shanties. www.facebook.com/kernowinthecity
see full programme below
tickets available soon through Elephant West
Tickets will be available soon through Elephant West
A catalogue essay will be written by Dr Oliver Padel, medievalist and toponymist specialising in Cornish Studies, Hon Research Fellow, Department of Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge.
The festival will welcome the Cornish respite holiday charity, Cornwall Hugs Grenfell (the gallery is situated close to Grenfell Tower), as well as fundraising for Cornwall Air Ambulance.