Artweeks season arrives by forklift truck & canal!

Submitted by Esther Lafferty on Tue, 01/04/2014 - 12:39pm
Here it comes!

Wow! April already and it’s all starting now, the Oxfordshire Artweeks season.

The festival guide has been printed and 50,000 copies were delivered to a secret barn location ten days ago and are now being dispersed across the county and beyond through a number of channels. We hope you agree it looks fantastic in its new binding, and you can pick one up at your local information point, in one of Oxfordshire’s libraries or galleries, or a Hamptons International office.

We also now have our April taster exhibition 'Inspired by the Canal' hanging on the walls of The Jam Factory (until 27th April) with work by six Artweeks artists ranging from traditional paintings, a print-maker's impression of an industrial boatyard, and a thoughtful contemporary installation exploring the hidden history of the canal (see illustration) so prepare to be provoked.

The exhibition also includes the winning entries of the Oxford Canal Heritage Project’s community art competition which attracted over 70 submissions and the winners will be presented with ECCO shoe vouchers and other prizes by David Pollock, Chairman of the Artweeks' Board, this evening at the artists’ Artweeks launch party amongst the canal art.

In the adult categories, Jericho’s Fran Monks’ black and white photograph of a canal dweller playing his guitar on a narrow boat and Clare Owen’s 3D canal ceramic vase around which two canal boats encircle the pot endlessly took the first prizes, while Mark Nash from Crisis Skylight was commended for his extraordinary photograph of a heron. The top award for the u22s went to Olivia Brookes (14) of Henry Box School Witney with her study of the Oxford Canal from the towpath approaching Aristotle Bridge in Jericho. A few of the 42 boats transformed from ECCO shoe boxes by children at local schools will also be on show.

In addition, Mrs Norton who bakes the delicious cakes for which The Jam Factory is renowned has also knitted a fun selection of tea-cosies inspired by Oxford’s hidden water way that are guarantead (that’s a pun not a typo) to put a smile on your face as your hot drinks flow.

So we recommend you take the time to enjoy a cuppa and a slice of cake as you browse your festival guide, and start planning the way your path will wend during Artweeks!