Call: 0121 472 8000 • email: info@westhillendowment.org
Dear God...
“The ocean is like God and raindrops are the religion. When they fall into the ocean they become one.”
Zoya Ahmed and Nurun Uddin

Southwark Cathedral
Art Installation:
Please Believe These Days Will Pass


Please Believe These Days Will Pass is the tenth annual Art Installation at Southwark Cathedral. It was on display from 2 June to 23 July 2021.

A work by visual artist Mark Titchner, the artwork - a digital print on semi-transparent fabric suspended by wire – aimed to provoke reflection on where we are in 2021 over a year after the Covid-19 pandemic began.

The artist’s practice is based on text and, in particular, how words can be placed in social settings and public spaces as triggers for discussion and reflection.

The artwork (a mixture of religious, corporate, government and self-help text) anchored viewers in place and time, to ponder the weight and meaning of each word in their universal and particular contexts.

Southwark_2021_c
 
Southwark Cathedral is a centre for daily worship within the English choral tradition, and is open and free to the public every day. We provide inclusive public access to the Cathedral and its work for local people and visitors, attracting almost 200,000 visitors each year. People of all demographics – including underserved groups – have opportunities to participate in events and activities, including free tours, talks and art workshops.

Southwark Cathedral has a great deal of experience of staging compelling art installations; in particular, since 2012, Lent in Southwark Cathedral has been accompanied by art installations which aim to provoke thought and reflection.

Due to Covid-19, the decision was taken to delay the 2021 Art Installation until June 2021 (render images of the artwork were instead trailed during Lent and used for the Cathedral’s Lent Course).
Southwark_2021_d



Southwark_2021_a
 
The art installation drew new and returning audiences to the Cathedral, increasing missional and visitor engagement, whilst aiding the Cathedral’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The artist Mark Titchner creates public art in public spaces, and his billboard art has become a feature of the Covid-19 pandemic, with bold designs and enlivening colours. Many people have resonated with the artist’s works during lockdown, and the installation drew significant interest and increased visitors to the Cathedral. Southwark Cathedral was open and free to the public every day of the installation period, and we themed a programme of worship and events around the artwork, tackling themes of change, social interaction, and mindfulness.
 
Mark Titchner’s (b. 1973, Luton, UK) artwork explores religion and other belief systems that inform our society. Focusing on an exploration of words and language, much of his artwork is based in the public realm. He was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2006 and participated in the Venice Biennale in 2007. In 2018 he completed a major new permanent public work, ‘Me, Here Now’, installed at London Bridge Station. The artist works with a number of media including digital, print, wall drawing, video, sculpture, and often employs motifs taken from religious iconography. Many of his recent projects have explored issues around mental health, and he is currently involved with the Mental Health and Justice project, a multi-disciplinary research initiative funded by Wellcome.

[Photos: Ben Stevens, Commissioned by The Sunday Times]
 


For more information please see:
https://cathedral.southwark.anglican.org/
Twitter: @Southwarkcathed  
Facebook: @southwarkcathedral

http://marktitchner.com/