Exhibition
Exhibitions

Harewood Biennial 2024: Create/Elevate

By Harewood House Trust

20 October 2024

The third edition of Harewood Biennial, Create/Elevate, celebrated the power of craft to surprise, inspire and bring people together to imagine new worlds.

June – October 2024

Presented within Harewood House, and across its Grounds and Gardens, it brought together the work of 16 British and international artists, designers and craft collectives including four major new commissions.

Showcasing a range of arts and crafts techniques, the exhibition showed how artists use craft for cross-generational knowledge sharing – as the foundation of most things we know, use and value. It offered fresh perspectives on Harewood’s collections while exploring timely themes including local and global ecologies.

reate/Elevate builds upon Harewood’s reputation for bringing world class arts and crafts to all our audiences across Yorkshire and beyond.
Darren Pih - Former Curator and Artistic Director for Harewood House Trust

Darren Pih, Former Curator and Artistic Director for Harewood House Trust continues: “It presents works created through community engagement while taking a global perspective to reflect upon Harewood’s history and our extraordinary art collections and decorative interiors.

Craft is a skilful expression that can be beautiful and illuminate our current times while providing models for living, learning and thriving together.”

The contemporary exhibits provided new ways to engage with the centuries of craft artistry embedded within the interiors of Harewood House.

In an interview with Financial Times, curator Ligaya Salazar says work shown as part of the Biennial includes practices that are on the verge of becoming extinct.

Wide view of the Cinnamon Drawing Room. Temitayo Ogunbiyi sculpture You Will Find Lagos in Jand living stands beneath a grand decorative ceiling where a crystal chandelier hangs. — Temitayo Ogunbiyi, You Will Find Lagos in Jand Living 2023-4 in the Cinnamon Drawing Room

Close up shot of the rope detail in Temitayo Ogunbiyi's sculpture You Will Find Lagos in Jand Living — Temitayo Ogunbiyi, You Will Find Lagos in Jand Living 2023-4 in the Cinnamon Drawing Room

Mannequin stands in the middle of Harewood's Music Room wearing a bright blue Antigua and Barbuda Carnival costume, leather mask and red headdress adorned with tamarind seed jewellery. — Botanique Studios, The Highlander, Whip Man and John Bull in the Music Room

Handmade leather blue, red and orange tamarind fruit are placed on top of the grand piano in Harewood Music Room — Botanique Studios, The Highlander, Whip Man and John Bull in the Music Room

Handemade tamarind seed jewellery is on display under a warm spotlight. — Botanique Studios, The Highlander, Whip Man and John Bull in the Music Room

Seven miniature hand cast bronze Baobab trees stand proudly on a desk in the Old Library at Harewood. The desk is in the foreground, with a marble fireplace and book cases filled with vintage and rare books softly out of focus. — Emefa Cole, Untitled 2024 in the Old Library

Five miniature hand cast bronze Baobab trees stand proudly on a desk in the Old Library at Harewood. — Emefa Cole, Untitled 2024 in the Old Library

22 hand crafted brushes hand inside a bright blue backed wooden display unit in the Old Kitchen. In the middle of the cabinat hands a double ended broom. To the left, two more hand made brooms hang from the wall. In front of the display stands an old pastry room dark wooden table. — Rosa Harradine, Fibre and Form on display in the Pastry Room

Detail shot of Rosa Harradine's hand crafted brushes made from broomcorn, hemp cord and cotton strap. Broomcorn is a natural fibre, a type of sorghum. It is stiff but has wispy ends, ideal for sweeping dirt and dust. — Rosa Harradine, Fibre and Form on display in the Pastry Room

Detail of Rosa Harradine's double ended brook made from broomcorn, spalted hazel wood, nylon and leather. Broomcorn is a natural fibre, a type of sorghum. The wooden handle was harvested Rosa from my small patch of woodland in Carmarthenshire, Wales, sanded by hand and oiled with raw linseed oil. — Rosa Harradine, Fibre and Form on display in the Pastry Room

In looking to the past, one topic that is addressed is Harewood’s difficult history. Edwin Lascelles used money generated by the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved People to build Harewood House.

In response to this, Modular by Mensah’s installation “Onipa ye de” (2024), named after a proverb in the Ghanaian Akan language meaning “human being is sweet”, translates Adinkra visual symbols into playful modular furniture that shares language, heritage and creates a space to be with others.

Founder Kusheda Mensah sees the work as a positive act by a Black woman in the present, in contrast with the house’s “dark history”.

Kusheda Mensah, Founder of Modular by Mensah

Promoting social equality

Create/Elevate showed how artists and makers work collectively to affect societal change and promote social equity. Exhibits encouraged fresh ways for audiences to engage the spaces and gardens of Harewood House.

In an article by Stored Honey, Laura Davis wrote

“Most striking is Rasad, by Dhaka-based artist collective Britto Arts Trust – a full-scale small town Bangladeshi street market erected “below stairs”, where the produce is made of ceramic or fabric.

Most items are bleached of colour – bright white ceramic bags labelled Tilda rice, bright white ceramic jars of Branson pickle. Then, the occasional splash of colour – yellow sweetcorn kernels, burnished orange (real) spices, and the bold red labels of embroidered Campbell’s soup cans (surely a nod to Warhol).

On second inspection, the exhibit becomes menacing – the fish have the tails of missiles, the artichokes are exploding out of handguns, the bottles of apple juice bear the warning ‘£Brexit€ Food inflation’.“

asad is a piece that symbolises the whole Harewood Biennial - witty, inventive and created with great skill, and you’re rewarded for looking more closely.
Laura Davis - Stored Honey

Make it Harewood

Alongside the exhibition, we offered a summer of dynamic craft workshops. During weekends in August, Make it Harewood offered accessible hands-on Biennial-themed activities and engagement opportunities.

Workshops included Model Making with Jim Parkyn, one of the talented model makers behind many classic characters including Wallace and Gromit, Shaun The Sheep, Creature Comforts and animated feature films and commercials. Flag Making with Biennial artist Rebecca Chesney was inspired by Conditions at Present – Chesney’s installation of 25 windsocks made from reclaimed tent fabric salvaged from music festivals.

With thanks to everyone involved

Rachel Crewes, Chief Executive Officer, Harewood House Trust said:

“Harewood Biennial is a showcase for the Trust’s vision to commission and collaborate with exceptional artists who engage with Harewood’s history in a contemporary way, provoking different perspectives and conversations.

Darren Pih and Ligaya Salazar’s bold curation in Create/Elevate accentuates and highlights Harewood House and its collections giving us all an opportunity to explore the skills and knowledge of these global and visionary creatives.”

Exhibiting artists, makers and collectives: Arabeschi di Latte, BEIT Collective with Hamza Mekdad, Botanique Studios, Britto Arts Trust, Rebecca Chesney, Emefa Cole, Common Threads, Jakup Ferri, Rosa Harradine, Jan Hendzel, Mani Kambo, Hew Locke, Kusheda Mensah, Temitayo Ogunbiyi, Lucia Pizzani and Xanthe Somers.

Curated by Ligaya Salazar and Darren Pih the exhibition ran from June – October 2024.

Exhibition design by Instruct Studio, Manchester.

The Common Threads and Rebecca Chesney installations were co-commissions with the British Textile Biennial.

Create/Elevate was generously supported by Arts Council England, British Council, and the Henry Moore Foundation.

Upon an extravagant mahogany table stands a series of Corinthian-shaped vases made from leather, silk, wood and metal. Each has it's own intricate shape and colour making them highly unique. In the background hangs paintings of those who once lived at Harewood. — BEIT Collective and Hamza Mekdad, The Essence of Home 2024 in the State Dining Room

Brightly coloured hand made rugs cover the bookcases of the Spanish Library. Some rugs feature exaggerated cartoon style animals including elephants, dogs, cats and birds. — Jakup Ferri, The Monumentality of the Everyday 2022-ongoing in the Spanish Library

Sweetcorn, beans and squash grow in the walled garden surrounded by wildflowers. A sculpture made from fallen trees stands in the middle of the garden. — Lucia Pizzani, Cultivao y Memoria (Crop and Memory) 2024 in the Walled Garden

Lush wildflower meadow beneath a blue sky filled with fluffy clouds. Lucia Pizzani's living sculpture made from fallen trees stands in the foreground with the walled garden is softly out of focus — Lucia Pizzani, Cultivao y Memoria (Crop and Memory) 2024 in the Walled Garden

Four brightly coloured giant vases stand on top of rough hot pink boxes in a small dark room. — Xanthe Somers, Eye of the Beholder and Life’s Good 2024 on display in the Ante Room

Close up detail of the top third of a giant vase. The vase is painted in a pink and green check. The inside of the check squares have been cut out so that white clay can be weaved in and out of each hole. Each weave holds a bright orange ring. — Xanthe Somers, Woven Tales Stand Tall 2023

A small marble bust is adorned with a golden headdress stands on a bright pink display box. In the background, another marble bust sits on top of a marble fireplace, below a gilded Chippendale mirror. — Hew Locke, Souvenir 6 (Princess Alexandra) with souvenir Parian bust of Princess Alexandra made by Copeland in 1863 from Harewood's own Collection

A small marble bust is adorned with a golden headdress. — Hew Locke, Souvenir 6 (Princess Alexandra) on display in Princess Mary's Dressing Room

A collection of sculptural drinking vessels and tableware displayed on a countertop in the Old Kitchen. The pieces are crafted with a light blue textured finish and adorned with twisted white handles, showcasing a mix of shapes and designs. In the foreground, a tall cylindrical vessel with multiple handles stands out, surrounded by smaller cups and bowls with unique, artistic forms. In the background, copper pots, pans, and utensils hang on shelves and racks, creating a warm, traditional atmosphere. — Arabeschi di Latte, Social Kitchen 2024 in the Old Kitchen

A sculptural drinking vessel with a textured, light blue finish and a distinctive design. It features a wide, shallow bowl with a scalloped edge, supported by a pedestal base. The vessel has twisted white handles extending outward, adding a dynamic, decorative element to its form. The surface has a painterly, scratched texture, giving it an artisanal appearance. — Arabeschi di Latte, Social Kitchen 2024 in the Old Kitchen

A series of embroidered panels created collaboratively by artisans from the Ra’ana Liaquat Craftsmen’s Colony (RLCC), women from the South Asian diaspora in Burnley and Bristol, and the Shantona Women’s Group in Leeds, hang from a dark blue frame. The colourful panels depict shared experiences of family and explore the meaning of home across different places and cultures. — Common Threads 2019-ongoing in the China Room

Delicate, three-dimensional patterns carved into the ceiling of the Yellow Drawing Room are reflected in a wooden mirror. The patterns combine geometry, nature, and art into one harmonious whole. — Jan Hendzel, Artist Unknown 2024 in the Yellow Drawing Room

Intricate patterns found inside wood used to make Jan Hendzel's Artist Unknown. — Jan Hendzel, Artist Unknown 2024 in the Yellow Drawing Room

A blue floral Japanese china bowl sits upon a blue box in a small wallpapered room. The wallpaper has a repeated pattern of blue and red motifs inspired by the stories of those who worked and lived at Harewood House. — Mani Kambo, Layered Legacies in Watercolour Room 1

Wallpaper detail in the Watercolour Room. The wallpaper is like a map of Harewood history, with flora and fauna, fingerprints, ripples, hills and patterns that reflect architectural details. — Mani Kambo, Layered Legacies in Watercolour Room 1

Harewood Craft Biennial

Centuries of craft artistry is embedded within the interiors of Harewood House. The narrative-rich contemporary exhibits provide new ways to engage with this history.

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Harewood Biennial 2024: Create/Elevate