An art exhibition looking back at our experience of life during the pandemic lockdowns has opened at a cathedral in Cambridgeshire.
Hundreds of works of art created during lockdown are on display at the Made in Lockdown exhibition at Peterborough Cathedral and will feature over three hundred pieces created in the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns from 170 people.
The exhibits include handiwork inspired by NHS workers, images of the natural world and pieces depicting the isolation that families experienced during the lockdowns. One artist, whose sculpture of a mad March hare riding a scooter, said the piece was “a suitable response to all that was happening”.
The cathedral asked anyone whose creativity had been inspired during the pandemic to submit their art for inclusion in the exhibition, which showcases paintings, drawings, collages, models and even puppets.
One of the most poignant exhibits on display is a knitted blanket, made by Vivien Stevenette, whose husband Gareth was diagnosed with terminal cancer shortly before the first lockdown in March 2020.
Vivien, who knitted the blanket as a way to manage her stress while caring for Gareth said: “Every day I would knit a new square and they grew and grew into this wonderful blanket.
“It was such a terrible time – and yet such a loving time – a time when we were closer than we’d ever been. This blanket just reminds me of all that we went through.”
Another contributor was Philippa Bandurek Bradbury, who used art to capture her son’s loneliness in her creation: ‘A Little on the Lonely Slide’. Phillipa’s picture shows the boy alone playing on his garden slide, drawn on top of the music for the song ‘A Little on the Lonely Side’, in a stark reminder of how the power of music can be used to express feelings.
Artist Viv Scone contributed a 3D creation entitled ‘Hairy, Harey times – Mad March 2020’ that features a hare on a scooter. She said: “It was a nod to the times being out of joint and wildlife (real and imaginary) behaving differently and ‘badly’ – such as the Llangollen goats.”
The exhibition is open to the public at Peterborough Cathedral until Friday, February 18.
