Melissa Burn

Co-selector (with Yvonne Carmichael) and co-curator (with Nancy Stedman) of group exhibition at South Square Gallery, Thornton to celebrate 50 years of the Pennine Way.

4 April – 24 May 2015

Melissa Burn, Caro Blount-Shah, Alison Carthy, Jennie Crawford, Emma Hardaker, Edward Hurst, Anna Malcolm , Rhianna Mayhew, Mita Solanky

High Line celebrates the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Pennine Way. Through a range of works, 9 artists provide their own perspectives on the memorable experiences of walking the route. Immersive photos bring the exhilaration of wide open spaces in to the gallery, while textiles referencing the wool industry of the Pennines capture the subtle textures and colours of the landscape. Installations to do with footprints and the spine, and re-creating the sound and soil under our feet, all explore the physicality of walking the route. Walking as endurance, restoring its shamanic mystery, is considered in a video, while a constructed trig point brings a familiar feature into an unexpected context. Images captured through print and photograph consider the shifting and threading line of the Way along the watershed, as well as constructed notions of wilderness and naturalness.

The gallery hosted the first performance of 50 Steps – Walking and Dancing the Pennine Way (see Performance) during the run of the exhibition.