MESS ROOM Creates: An Exhibition of Gargoyles, Grotesques and Medieval Beasts
MESS ROOM Creates: An Exhibition of Gargoyles, Grotesques and Medieval Beasts
1st July to 30th August 2023
Artists from Kent Association for the Blind Art Groups, Peer Arts and Deaf Peer Arts are delighted to share their exhibition inspired by the Rochester Bestiary and Beauty and the Beasts in partnership with Dr Diane Heath and Martin Crowther from the NLHF Medieval Animals Heritage project at Canterbury Christ Church University.
MESS ROOM artists worked with students from St Nicholas Primary, St William of Perth, Kingfisher Primary School and Chatham Girls Grammar School to create a collection of fantastic beasts. MESS ROOM is proud to re-use elements of TAPE by the international award-winning designer, Numen/For Use. TAPE was a fully immersive gigantic cocoon-like installation made entirely from tape recently installed at The Historic Dockyard Chatham as part of A+E Lab’s ALT*MED Festival.
MESS ROOM CIC is an inclusive arts studio based at Sun Pier House, Chatham, where people can express themselves creatively, using a combination of activities and communication methods, including British Sign Language (BSL).
This exhibition is part of MESS ROOM Creates, a project supported by Arts Council England.
Wendy Daws has volunteered with Kent Association for the Blind (KAB) for almost 20 years, running 3 art groups for blind and partially sighted people. The KAB Medway art group was formed in 2006, the KAB Gravesend art group formed in 2015 and the KAB Canterbury group, in partnership with The Beaney House & Art of Knowledge, formed in 2016. The current age range of the artists is 29 years to 93 years and the groups meet regularly to take part in a wide variety of art-making techniques and exhibit their work each year here in Rochester Cathedral’s Crypt. The artists also have artwork on display at The Historic Dockyard Chatham. The groups are supported by a fantastic team of volunteers and guide communicators.
An exhibition of exceptional British Library manuscripts from the Priory of Saint Andrew at Rochester Cathedral.
The Cathedral hosts several large exhibitions and smaller installations each year from education to art and everything in between.