Sanctuary

A Covid memorial for the nation… In May 2022, a unique commemorative public memorial will come to Nuneaton & Bedworth, the birthplace of George Eliot and home to the country’s largest Armistice Day Parade. Sanctuary will stand as an unforgettable temporary structure, offering a moment to commemorate the nation’s loss during the Covid-19 pandemic, to mark the rebirth, recovery and regeneration of the whole community.

Sanctuary, third in our memorial trilogy with David Best, is an intricate wooden structure being created in collaboration with the local community of North Warwickshire, creating opportunities to develop carpentry skills and beyond. Famous for his temples at Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, David’s vision is for Sanctuary to be a healing space for everyone to come back together after isolating and challenging two years for us all.

Produced by Artichoke, in association with Imagineer and supported by Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, Warwickshire County Council and DCMS Culture Recovery Fund, Sanctuary will be built in the stunning Miners’ Welfare Park in the heart of Bedworth, ”the town that never forgets”.

Sanctuary will offer an extraordinary spiritual space for communities to come together to mark the losses of the last two years by donating words, objects or mementos left to adorn the walls of this monument to the resilience of the human spirit. A spectacular finale held on Saturday 28 May will see the structure be ceremonially set alight in a powerful symbol of catharsis and rebirth.

This is a project for the whole community and one that will put Nuneaton & Bedworth firmly on the map. Sanctuary will bring people together from across the area and provide opportunities for employment and training, working through community groups and local partners.

David Best

Californian artist David Best trained in sculpture at the San Francisco Institute of Art. His work includes using found objects to embellish cast porcelain figures and art cars.

In 2000 he began the tradition of building ‘Temples’ at Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada to commemorate the life of a crew member that died during construction. Best has since built eight different ‘Temples’ at the event with the help of hundreds of volunteers and the Temple Crew. Over the years these structures have taken on a spiritual significance, becoming spaces for remembrance and forgetting, each ritually burnt to the ground at the end of the event.

Best has also built other ‘Temples’ outside of Burning Man in San Francisco and Detroit.

Artichoke

Founded in 2005 by Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb, the company’s aim is to work with artists to create unique, large-scale experiences that appeal to the widest possible audience. We don’t believe the arts should take place only behind the closed doors of theatres, concert halls or galleries. Instead, you will find us working in the street, public squares, along the coast or in the countryside.

From London to Liverpool, Durham and Derry~Londonderry, we have transformed people and places across the UK. Bringing communities together through our learning and participation work, we leave a legacy of skills and newfound potential behind. 

 

Nuneaton and Bedworth

Nuneaton and Bedworth is a borough in northern Warwickshire, at the very heart of England, made up of two of Warwickshire’s most important towns.

Nuneaton is a large market town close to the geographical centre of England, near the county border with both Leicestershire and West Midlands County. Birthplace of world-renowned author George Eliot, this popular residential town in 2020 had an estimated population of 91,334, making it the largest town in Warwickshire.

Bedworth is also a market town, located between Coventry and Nuneaton. Its population in 2020 was estimated at 30,923.

The area features first class UK transport links by road and mainline rail, with Birmingham Airport also close at hand, as well as major regional and national employment centres for Holland and Barrett and Hello Fresh, among others.