‘Cicatrix’ a WW1 Centenary Exhibition at The Spring

‘CICATRIX … the scar of a healed wound’ is an international multimedia touring exhibition (incorporating installation, film, drawing and sound) commissioned and hosted by The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre in Havant. The exhibition will run from the 9th January to the 7th April and includes work by artists Henny Burnett, Susan Francis, Prudence Maltby and Caro Williams.

Henny Burnett, Prudence Maltby and Susan Francis are Wiltshire artists whose collaborative partnership is concerned with the effects of the military presence on Salisbury Plain. Their work is united by the concept of scarring; the physical marks left behind, seen as part of the landscape, and then the other scars: obscured but clearly evident as memories mapped within those who’ve experienced conflict.

Sound artist Caro Williams joined Cicatrix as the first cultural exchange guest from New Zealand in May 2016, attending a residency on Salisbury Plain. This creative research opportunity inspired a further layer of work from all the artists, responding to this collaboration and has been supported by Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Co-commissioning Fund and Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival. Taking the title from one of the works, this further element – Call & Response, marks the first leg of a journey to include artists from three Commonwealth countries, remembering the troops representing these nations – who trained on the Plain since WW1. Over the next two years Cicatrix will welcome artists from Canada and Australia.

Cicatrix is a member of the First World War Centenary Partnership, led by Imperial War Museums, and forms a network of regional, national and international cultural and educational organisations. The Cicatrix project has developed through the support of Arts Council England, Wiltshire Council, Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival and Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa WW100 Co-commissioning Fund.

“…it is the theme that reaches out to visitors, binding past with future, ourselves and others, in shared reflection amidst the ambiguous legacies of human conflict” – Ewan Clayton, Professor in Design, University of Sunderland.

Entry to the exhibition is free during The Spring’s standard opening hours and there will also be a series of workshops to run in parallel with the exhibition:

Saturday 11 March, 10am – 12noon, Family Workshop, Free
A ‘drop in’ to meet the Cicatrix artists; have a go at some activities inspired by the exhibition, and a chance to exchange a Fums Up sculpture for an object no larger than 2cm square.
Saturday 11 March, 2.30pm, Exhibition Tour and Meet the Artists, £6
Join Henny Burnett, Prudence Maltby and Susan Francis for an exclusive tour of their work. Hear about their ways of working and inspiration for this international collaboration. The tour will be followed by a question and answer session facilitated by Nic Cowper.

Experimental Ground by Susan Francis