20 January 2024
See Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings in a different light as artist Andy McKeown hosts a free evening of illuminations and recording. Andy will be providing an alternative view of the site as he projects his art against the sides of the buildings. You will also have the opportunity to take part in a piece of community art. Read aloud a name of one of the 800 people who used to work at the flaxmill. Recordings of the mill worker’s names will form part of Flaxmill Voices, a unique exhibition to be installed onsite later in the year.
Andy’s projection will feature some of Andy’s work from his ‘Minutiae’ series over a decade ago, before the site was restored in a £28million project, which included £20.7million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The differences between the site then, in a state of abandonment and dilapidation, to now are pronounced.
Shrewsbury-based McKeown said:
“The opening of the Flax Mill in 1797 led to rapid growth of the surrounding area to keep up with the need for labour, creating communities that survive to this day. This is your chance to find your voice in understanding the contribution and toil of the great number of people, many of them children, in making linen thread at this architecturally important place for almost 90 years.”