If I had been asked previously to enumerate the risks or difficulties encountered by artists in exhibiting their work I would not have chosen to mention floods. I’ve just returned from Worcester, however, where I delivered and hung an exhibition of my work in the Cathedral. The news of flooding in several British regions has been widely reported, but previously it has all seemed rather remote from me. This week, however, it has become “up close and personal”.
The hotel in which we stayed overlooks the county cricket ground, and normally this would have provided a view from our window that is quite picturesque. Now the ground itself and several fields beyond are under a couple of metres of water. Yesterday morning at breakfast I was summoned urgently by the manager, who told me to move my car immediately. I only just managed to get into it and move to a higher location before the rising water cut it off. It had to be left in a multi-story park at the other side of the city, after we had made a long detour around the suburbs to avoid closed roads. Several streets disappeared under water during our stay.
The city is situated on the River Severn, and this carries water down to the Bristol Channel from the hills of central Wales. Evidently the river is still rising further up-stream, so Worcester will face an even greater threat in the next few days. The Cathedral is situated on a prominent rise, so that is not threatened, but the general situation could become very serious there. Thankfully, we are safely back in Bradford now.
On the bright side, the exhibition was received very warmly. I’m very pleased with its location in the Dean’s Chapel. (I’m showing the Set Apart series, that appears in one of the “galleries” in this website.) It really is a wonderful privilege to be asked to exhibit there.