A free art workshop that will delve into the University of Central Lancashire’s historical archive collections is open to the public.
The Heavy Water Collective will host a public art event on Thursday 3 April, using clay, collage and drawing processes to explore the University’s historically significant archival materials known as The Special Collections.
The workshop will be followed by the opening of an exhibition entitled Hollows, based in the University’s Hanover Building, which will showcase work from the three artists who make up the Heavy Water Collective; Victoria Lucas, Maud Haya-Baviera and Joanna Whittle.
"Through this project, we want to open the Special Collections up to the community and create some exciting new material."
— Senior Lecturer in Fine Art Victoria Lucas
The University’s Special Collections include a large number of books, documents, and historical resources of both national and international importance. This includes exhibits relating to the Temperance Movement, records and papers from the Jeremiah Horrocks Observatory and exhibits from the Wainwright Collection.
Senior Lecturer in Fine Art Victoria Lucas has organised the event. She said: “We’re fortunate to have access to a lot of really interesting historical material at the University. Through this project, we want to open the Special Collections up to the community and create some exciting new material.”
The Heavy Water Collective respond creatively to traces of history, situating archive-based research in a contemporary context using artwork. It has hosted similar workshops and exhibitions using local historical archives in other cities around the UK.
Hollows will launch on Thursday 3 April. It will begin at 10:30am with the two-hour workshop, followed by a talk from the Heavy Water artists and the exhibition opening at 5:30pm. People are free to come along to the exhibition without taking part in the workshop.
The workshop is free to attend but places are limited and need to be booked via Eventbrite.
To book visit or for more information email contact@heavywater.info
More information about the Heavy Water Collective is available online.
