A TEN-DAY celebration of the visual arts gets under way in Leicester this week – and Leicester Museum & Art Gallery is amongst the venues taking part.
On Saturday (12 November), there’s the first chance to see a brand new exhibition featuring the work of local artist Lucy Stevens.
In Colour Coded Birds, the artist takes the bird specimens from the museum’s natural science collection and explores creative ways to catalogue them.
The birds – grouped together by colour – will be displayed alongside contemporary 2D and 3D artworks to create intense colour combinations.
Admission to Colour Coded Birds, which continues until March 2023, is free of charge.
Also on Saturday is a family-friendly event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.
Tutankhamun Egypt Day runs from 11am-3pm on Saturday (12 November), with a small charge of £1 per child for arts and crafts activities.
As part of Leicester Art Week, the museum will also host a group discussion with a panel of artists about collaborative working. Panellists will share their experiences of co-creating with other artists and answer questions from the audience.
The Q&A session takes place at 1pm on Sunday 20 November. Admission is free of charge.
At Leicester Central Library on Bishop Street, people can mark Leicester Art Week by getting creative with some needlework.
A quilting workshop on Thursday 17 November will provide the chance to stitch a square that will form part of a giant Global Leicester Quilt. All materials will be provided and participants can be as creative as they like with fabrics, ribbons, sequins and buttons.
The workshop starts at 1pm and is free of charge.
Other on-going art exhibitions to visit during Leicester Art Week include the annual exhibition of the Leicester Society of Artists at Newarke Houses Museum, and Parallel Lines: Eileen Cooper and Leicester’s Art Collection, which continues at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery until 27 November.
Deputy city mayor Cllr Piara Singh Clair said: “Leicester Art Week is an opportunity to celebrate the visual arts and explore the city’s galleries, museums and other arts venues.
“This year’s festival brings together over 50 events and exhibitions, and features the work of hundreds of artists.
“Our partners have put together a full programme of events, including film showings at the Phoenix, late-nights at the Attenborough Arts Centre and a production at the Peepul Centre, so I would encourage people to visit the festival website and discover all that’s happening at all 14 of the participating venues.”
Leicester Art Week – which starts on Friday (11 November) with opening events at Two Queens, Leicester Print Workshop and StudionAme, and runs until 20 November – is organised by Leicester Visual Arts: a partnership of the city’s principal arts organisations.
The partnership comprises the Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester Gallery at De Montfort University, Leicester Print Workshop, Leicester Museums & Galleries, LCB Depot, Phoenix, Soft Touch Arts, and Two Queens. Also involved this year are StudionAme and the Peepul Centre.
A full programme of events taking place during Leicester Art Week is available at leicesterartweek.co.uk
Full details of all the events taking place at Leicester’s museums are available at leicestermuseums.org
Picture caption: Kingfisher from Colour Coded Birds: courtesy of Lucy Stevens