Art & Culture

Giant Burning Man sculptures are going on display in the Peak District

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 10th February 2022

Several huge sculptures from the world-famous Burning Man festival will be put on display in the Peak District this year.

Chatsworth House, just across the border in Derbyshire, will be the first place in the UK to host the artworks.

12 sculptures will be placed in the grounds of the stately home, including a giant bear made of 200,000 pennies and a winged horse elevated 20 feet in the air.

Visitors to the grounds will also be able to see a curved jet plane that’s been reimagined as a flower.

The Flybrary by Christina Sporrong – a Burning Man sculpture that will be displayed at Chatsworth House. Credit: Tex Allen

Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man will be unveiled at Chatsworth from 9 April and will remain in place until 1 October.

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The free-to-visit outdoor exhibition is going to feature eight existing sculptures and four that will be built on site.

Members of the local community will be invited to help with the creation of the artworks, mirroring the building that takes place at the actual Burning Man festival.

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Burning Man festival in Nevada. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Burning Man normally takes place in the Nevada dessert, attracting tens of thousands of people with its mix of music, arts and community.

Historically, several of the festival’s biggest sculptures are burned over the course of the event.

The festival’s team and artists are now creating a little bit of that Burning Man magic in the countryside of Derbyshire.

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Wings of Glory by Adrian Landon at Burning Man. Credit: Adrian Landon

Radical Horizons will be free to visit, but parking at Chatsworth has to be pre-booked.

Kim Cook, director of creative initiatives at Burning Man, said: “We’ve come to understand Chatsworth as a place to foster innovation, creativity, thoughtfulness and thinkers since its early days, something that is also central to our work and ethos at Burning Man.

“Our hope is that the art in the landscape will provoke joy, new ways of viewing, and be an invitation to make up your own story about meaning as you explore the beautiful expanse of Chatsworth.”

Read more: American author says Blackpool is the ‘weirdest place’ in the world

The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, who reside at Chatsworth House, said: “We’re delighted to be announcing this celebratory programme for Chatsworth.

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“The exhibition in the house is a marker in time – a record of our acquisitions that we want to share with others – while the sculptures in the park continue the great tradition of the estate as a backdrop for contemporary works.

“We very much hope that visitors find inspiration here in this special place.”

Featured image: Lodestar by Randy Polumbo at Burning Man. Credit: Espresso Buzz Photo

Art & Culture

Rio Ferdinand is helping change young lives with community programmes in Oldham and Salford

Danny Jones Danny Jones Rio Ferdinand Foundation community programmes Oldham Salford

Ex-Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand and his foundation’s wonderful work is helping better the lives of young people in Oldham, Salford and across Manchester as a whole.

Over the past year, the Rio Ferdinand Foundation and The Guinness Partnership have been putting together a vital social initiative aimed at providing opportunities and resources to young people across Greater Manchester, helping them develop their skills and aspirations for future working life.

Now, after a hugely successful 12-month campaign, their skills and progression community programme, participants are well and truly starting to feel the impact, with 90% of those taking part now stating that they are enjoying a clear idea and focus on what they want to do for a career.

It may have be thriving in Salford and Oldham at the moment, but given the benefit the scheme has already had — not to mention the ambition the Rio Ferdinand Foundation has shown around various areas of the UK since being set up in 2012 — we can only see this spreading further across the region.

Matthew
Credit: Supplied

The skills-based initiative engages young people aged under 25 years old and living in Guinness homes in a six-month skills-based programme which has been up and running in the two Manc boroughs, as well as the London boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth, since March 2022.

Young people from both Oldham and Salford take part in a weekly schedule of activities designed to tackle youth unemployment, including digital media training (photography, product design, filmmaking, podcasting), building and construction, CV workshops, mock interviews and more.

Not only do these shadowing opportunities garner confidence and raise aspirations among other young people in the local community, but they also help directly develop their employability skills via mentoring.

For instance, Matthew, 19 from Royton in Oldham, completed the programme and then was supported to apply to the Guinness Aspire Awards to request funding to purchase camera and lighting equipment to help him start a small local photography business. Quality stuff.

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Matt says that the scheme “has been an amazing opportunity and has given [him] a chance to get back on the right path… I know what I want to do now and can’t wait to start… I would recommend that other people in my position get involved with it in the future.”

As well as markedly increasing participants health and well-being, all 100% of those involved across Salford and Oldham reported feeling more confident, with many now enjoying opportunities with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation’s partners such as Warner Music, Kiss FM, The Jockey Club and the Gym Group.

Speaking on the programme’s success, Rio himself said in a statement: “The Foundation is committed to working with young people at the heart of their communities to offer support, training, and opportunities to those that need it… engaging with the Guinness Partnership has provided a great boost to our reach and our work”.

Well in, Rio. Thankfully, he isn’t the only ex-Manchester-based footballer still trying to make a difference in the local community either:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — Supplied/Rio Ferdinand (via Instagram)

Art & Culture

Eurovision 2023 grand final to be screened live in cinemas across the UK

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

The grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest is to be screened live in cinemas across the UK for the first time ever.

With fans from across the globe set to descend on Liverpool in a couple of months time as the UK hosts the 2023 edition of the world’s biggest song competition on behalf of last year’s winners Ukraine, those who weren’t lucky enough to secure tickets will instead by able to head to their nearest cinema to experience the action on the big screen.

Distributor CinemaLive has announced it will be broadcasting the Eurovision grand final show live in cinemas nationwide for the first time ever.

It means that Eurovision fans up and down the country who missed out on grabbing tickets to the final – which sold out in under 40 minutes after going on sale earlier this month – will be able to come together to celebrate what is set to be the “biggest, brightest, boldest music party of the year”.

Eurovision 2023 grand final to be screened live in cinemas across the UK / Credit: Krists Luhaers (via Unsplash)

500 cinemas across the UK, including several here in Greater Manchester, will be screening the grand final on Saturday 13 May.

Vue, Odeon, Cineworld, and Everyman are just some of the cinema chains taking part.

Vue Manchester Printworks, Odeon Great Northern, and Everyman Manchester are the Manchester city centre venues lined-up to screen the event – with cinemas in the The Lowry Outlet Mall, Trafford Centre, Didsbury, Heaton Moor, Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, and more also set to welcome Eurovision fans through their doors.

Event organisers say the screenings will encourage singalongs and fancy dress.

“We’re delighted to be working with the BBC to bring Eurovision’s grand final live into cinemas across the UK for the first time ever,” said John Travers from CinemaLive. 

“We want audiences to enjoy themselves, so get your fancy dress on, and come together to enjoy this historic occasion on the big screen.”

Read more:

You cind out more and grab tickets to watch the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest grand final screened live in a cinema near you here.

Featured Image – Eurovision

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