Zara Worth, New Shrines (Hope), Bishop Auckland
A self-portrait of a community and its aspirations
From a pet turtle to a more reliable bus service, hopes can come in many forms. On Sunday, the Auckland Project unveils a new participatory artwork that explores the hopes and dreams of people living and working in Bishop Auckland.
“To ask ‘what do you hope for?’ is one of the most radical questions, but also one of the most honest questions you can ask,” said Zara Worth, the artist behind New Shrines (Hope). “Inevitably, in Bishop Auckland you will be working with some people from quite deprived areas. It’s a big thing to ask a young parent what they hope for, or somebody who has experience of serious mental health conditions, or just somebody having a really hard time of things.
“It’s been a moving project, even more than I expected. I was regularly moved to tears.”
It’s a way to be part of a conversation about our future
New Shrines (Hope) is a collection of amulets going on display, initially, in Auckland Tower. Hundreds of small pieces of foil, embossed with words and images that encompass the ideas and ambitions of local people who engaged with the project. The end product, in Zara’s words, is “a non-denominational shrine and a self-portrait of a community through the aspirations and dreams of the people who live, work and visit Bishop Auckland.”
In recent years, Bishop has become an artistic centre. The crowd-pleasing Kynren historical spectacle is a summer highlight, the Spanish Art gallery brings together a world-class collection of religious artwork from Spain’s Golden Age and the recently-opened Faith Museum explores the role of belief in the modern world. That’s something that chimes with Zara’s own practice, which often explores the way a shared prompt can produce a widely differing and personal response.
“I created template amulets that are inspired by the architecture and objects in the Faith Museum collection, and also churches like Gainford St. Mary’s and Escomb Saxon Church,” Zara added. “So there is a lot of visual similarity, a kind of uniformity, and the invitation to everyone – tell me what you hope for – is the same
“So there is uniformity, but there’s also this huge spectrum of things that are included. Some might seem frivolous, like a little boy who wanted a pet turtle called Jake. Others are big dreams that people have for their lives, like wanting a career in music. I have had people drawing amulets about a desire for better jobs, for career opportunities, for investment in their high streets, better restaurant, better bus services.
“There’s a desire for investment and it’s so, so legitimate. This becomes a space to have those conversations without feeling like it’s too political. It’s a way to be part of a conversation about our future.”
Meanwhile, the use of imagery from Gainford is no accident. Part of Sunday’s activities in Bishop Auckland are built around the arrival of a banner by fellow artist Helen Elwes. She is bringing the new “Mother of Mercy” banner along the pilgrimage route from Gainford, which forms part of the Camino Ingles. The Camino, the pilgrimage theme, and the community workshops taking place during the day all tie in with the Auckland Project’s ambitious reinvention of the County Durham town.
People might be reluctant but, in the end, they made two amulets and were asking for more
At times, the Auckland Project and its focus on art and culture can draw a mixed response in the town. The contrast between an impressive new gallery and the rundown shops on nearby Newgate Street is stark. But there’s another, less prominent side to the initiative which is reflected in its support for work like New Shrines (Hope) and its reach into the Bishop Auckland community.
“The Auckland Project, as well as No More Nowt and Northern Heartlands, have been brilliant in helping to facilitate connections with as many different groups as possible,” Zara added. They have access to groups like Young Artists, but also parenting groups, social prescribing groups, groups of older people. I’ve had a privilege of working with a real cross-section of people connected with Bishop Auckland.
“Some of the most rewarding sessions I’ve done were with school groups and young people with the parents present. I’d invite parents to join in and, at first, they’d be reluctant. They just wanted to help their kids, they said they couldn’t draw or they weren’t artistic. But they were watching and, by the end, they’ve made two amulets and they’re asking if they can make another one. For me, that’s the most rewarding.”
It’s also very different from a perceived “top down” approach where art is gate-kept by an elite and offered to the masses as something that will do them good. Instead the aim is to use creativity to open a dialogue.
“I think it’s problematic to just take the approach that ‘art is a good thing’ and I’m going to do art to you and you’ll be grateful,” Zara added. “I can’t promise that you’ll feel better at the end of it, I’m not a wellbeing practitioner. It has to be an invitation and an exchange, a call and response where people engage willingly.
“They are not so much the audience as participants. They are invested in a different way and you can’t force that.”
I like the idea that this goes out of my control
That sense of common ownership goes beyond the creative stage. After a spell on display in Auckland Tower, the plan is to find a permanent site for the shrine – ideally outside, in the manner of a roadside shrine or a Buddhist prayer tree. With support from the Auckland Project, the hope is to find a long-term home at Binchester Roman Fort.
“I was interested in shrines that have, not exactly a permanence because obviously they age and they weather, but that are places where people really take over the ownership and give them a life of their own,” Zara said. “The idea is to make it a place that people will add to over time. The amulets will age, but people can add new things. Maybe it won’t still be these foil pieces, maybe people will start leaving ribbons or flowers and it will become something with a life of its own.
And a project that began by talking about hope continues with its own hopes for its further evolution
“I’m calling this New Shrines and at some point there should be a kind of permission for the installation to tip over into forming a focal point for people to manifest their aspirations. That’s not a permission that I can give, but I like the idea that this is something that goes out of my control.
“I think it’s really important and I really hope it happens.”
Zara is a member of the Strike Collective, a group of 21 women artists in County Durham working together to try and enliven the region’s cultural scene. Read more about Strike here:
