The people of Stockport will be able to contribute to a new immersive digital artwork in the town centre which will be unveiled next month.
As part of the Stockport Creative Campus initiative, a local culture reinvigoration programme, multi-disciplinary artist Di Mainstone will invite residents to explore their own relationship with Stockport while also contributing to a digital artwork.
The events will run from 12 March until April, and Mainstone will also be present during the Stockport Cultural Weekender, on 23 and 24 March.
Mirroring the artist’s previous work, which focused on climate change and biodiversity loss, this piece will involve 3D scanning of bulbs from soil, which will feature in the digital artwork.
One of the key themes will be biodiversity loss, and our reactions to it, both emotional and neurological.
Contributors will be able to write messages to future citizens of Stockport, which will feed into the artwork.
Di Mainstone is internationally renowned, having had her work exhibited at various prestigious venues, such as the V&A, Barbican, Cannes Film Festival and the National Portrait Gallery.
In addition to the immersive project, she will also curate and deliver workshops focused on a diverse range of communities around the Stockport area.
Discussions about climate change and the human impact on the natural world will also be part of the programme.
Mainstone said: “Collaborators will be invited to creatively explore their own sense of rootedness to the town, as well as to contemplate their emotional link to Stockport’s soil and the biodiversity within it.”
Many local groups will also participate, such as Stockport Women & Girls, the Asian Heritage Centre and PossAbilities.
The project is being run with Manchester-based arts and culture organisation FutureEverything, whose creative director Irini Papadimitriou said: “While the town goes through a phase of regeneration, “Emotional Biodiversity” presents a brilliant opportunity to bring people from Stockport together to explore their connection to this unique place, heritage and environment.”
Councillor Frankie Singleton, Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities & Sport at Stockport
Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “We are proud to have FutureEverything supporting the evolution of the town centre and what better way to launch the regeneration, than with this exciting programme of activity and artwork by artist Di Mainstone.
“The projects will reach out to, and reflect, so many of our wonderful, diverse communities, making this a fantastic artwork to present in the town.”
