Cromford Mills has announced it will be partnering with leading British artist Hetain Patel in the latest round of the Arts&Heritage initiative Meeting Point.
Arts&Heritage is a contemporary arts agency with a reputation for its innovative approach to forging relationships between artists and heritage sites. Cromford Mills is one of four sites across the Midlands taking part in this round of their Arts Council England-funded Meeting Point programme, all of whom will partner with artists to create new artworks.
Stephanie Allen, Executive Director at Arts&Heritage, said: “Despite the ongoing challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Meeting Point has continued at pace and we’re delighted to have worked with the participating museums to select the five artists that will join us on the programme.
“Each artist put forward an ambitious and creative proposal that sparked the imagination of the four Meeting Point museums, and it will be exciting to see how they work together to reimagine the museum’s stories and present them in an entirely new way.
“As well as producing great art, Meeting Point is also a learning programme; an opportunity for museum professionals to learn how to work collaboratively with artists and each other, and incorporate more contemporary art within their own programming.”
Hannah Steggles, Head of Heritage at Cromford Mills, said ‘We are thrilled to have this opportunity to develop skills in commissioning new contemporary art, and we look forward to working with Hetain Patel immensely. The heritage of our site is a complex one, and we are excited for Hetain to commemorate the forgotten stories of those connected to the mill’s history. We hope the medium of art will allow our audience to experience our heritage in a new way, and we look forward to the fresh perspectives that working on this project will bring to us all.’
Hetain Patel works in multiple media, and often asks big questions in his work around culture, identity and freedom. He is the winner of the Film London Jarman Award 2019, and has been selected to take part in British Art Show 9, touring the country in 2021 and 2022.
Of his selection for the Meeting Point programme at Cromford Mills, he said: “I’m delighted to have been selected for this Meeting Point commission, and look forward to working with the lovely team at Cromford Mills. I’m excited to be working with the site’s rich history and rethinking how we commemorate the forgotten people responsible for the success of Cromford Mills and the cotton industry, locally and globally.”
Over the next year, Hetain will work with museum staff, volunteers and the local community to develop his ideas, before creating a response that will be displayed at the mill, for visitors to enjoy and engage with.
Since 2016, Meeting Point has worked with 25 museums and more than 50 museum professionals to create 25 new artworks and deliver over 100 workshops. Arts&Heritage is funded by Arts Council England.For more information about Meeting Point and Arts&Heritage, visit www.artsandheritage.org.uk.
