Historic venue to host celebrated light and sound artist
One of the county's restored historic buildings will be hosting a spectacular projected art display.
The celebrated light and sound artist Andy McKeown will be illuminating Shrewsbury's Flaxmill Maltings buildings on Friday, February 9.
The evening will also be spent recording voices for Mr McKeown's forthcoming work ‘Flaxmill Voices’.
The project commemorates the thousands of workers who toiled at the site when it was a Flax Mill, at its height in the 1800s employing 800 people.
Visitors can record their voices saying the name of a mill-worker and they will feature in a sound-scape and shadow gallery installation later this year. The project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the Activity Plan.
Mr McKeown said: “The opening of the Flax Mill in 1797 led to rapid growth of the surrounding area to keep up with the need for labour, creating communities that survive to this day.
"This is your chance to find your voice in understanding the contribution and toil of the great number of people, many of them children, in making linen thread at this architecturally important place for almost 90 years.”
The projection on February 9 will feature some of Andy’s work from his ‘Minutiae’ series over a decade ago, before the site was restored in a £28million project.
The differences between the site then, in a state of abandonment and dilapidation, to now, with the Main Mill and Kiln newly restored and the site open to the public during the day are pronounced.
The audio recording of Flaxmill workers’ names will begin at 4pm with the projections running from dusk just after 5pm until 7pm.
The evening is free to attend, and tickets are not required.
The visitor exhibition – The Mill – will be open free of charge between 5pm and 7pm.
Turned Wood Café will be open serving a light menu and drinks.
