I know I've already made a blog post about Kettle's yard when I first began blogging (exactly a year ago), but I love it there so much that I has so share it with you again!
A couple of weeks ago I went to visit my family in Cambridge, and seeing as every time I'm there I feel as though I have to pay this place a visit I decided to drag them all there as well...
To sum it up as briefly as possible, Kettles Yard is basically a house (now owned by Cambridge University), come art gallery. It's situated in this little courtyard tucked away out of sight, and basically you just go up and ring the door bell and someone will let you in to look around- in fact my cousins were really concerned I'd just taken them to some random house at first, and looked ready to run away...
But this is no ordinary house.
Jim Ede (art curator at the Tate) and his wife Helen owned and lived in this house from 1958 to 1973, and it had always been Jim's dream to create a living space in which one could enjoy art from the comfort of the home. He envisaged somewhere were people could just come over, have a look around his house, and chat about art whilst he made them all tea.
True story.
His many connections to the art world enabled him to collect a ridiculous amount of incredible work from artists such as Ben Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Henry More and Barbara Hepworth, and by displayed these pieces alongside other everyday objects (shells, glass, stones, driftwood),in such a way as to create aesthetically pleasing installations.
What I personally love about this place is the fact it was designed for students- he just wanted to create somewhere where like minded and creative people could get together and appreciate and share their love of art, (that and it very much reminds me of my mum's house and her art of lovingly arranging found objects in really unexpected places...)
There's also the fact that the whole house has been arranged in such a way that, at different times of the day and depending on the season, the light will create multiple shadows and patterns through the displayed objects. Literally everywhere you look you'll find some form of beautiful shadow created by the holes in a piece of wood, or the reflection from a seed pod or vase.
If I had it my way I could seriously spend all day here just drawing and reading. I also love that, unlike many galleries, at Kettle's Yard you're actually encouraged to sit down and enjoy the surroundings- no furniture roped off, no moody security guards! It's like walking into your own home. Plus everyone who works there is so passionate about it and the work displayed there, that every time I've been there I've come away having learnt something new.
It really is an incredible place to visit, and I highly recommend if you're ever in that area, to go and check it out- plus it's free, and who doesn't love free shit?!
I thought I'd also include a little picture of me and Madeleine punting on the river- another thing I can cross off my "things to do in England that I've never actually done" list... Although word of warning, if you go- DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PUNT BY YOURSELVES!
It may be cheaper, but you'll end up like us- half dead, hanging from a willow tree, and causing a pile-up. And we only made it five minutes down the river... and I thought my arms were going to fall off...
I'll write again as soon as I do something interesting!
Hannah
