Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival Full Programme Announced

The countdown is now on to the Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival 2015 which returns to the town in less than four weeks time.

Organisers Culture Warrington recently announced that this year's WCAF15 Festival is being held in partnership with NORTH, which will deliver an exciting new dimension to the event.

The festival runs from Friday 2 October through to Saturday 31 October 2015 - and this is the fifth consecutive year the town has hosted the event.

A number of venues and public spaces across the town are supporting the event and will become festival hubs by hosting pavilions, exhibitions and events, including Pyramid Arts Centre, The Gallery at Bank Quay House and Warrington Museum & Art Gallery.

Offering a plethora of activities spanning the contemporary arts spectrum, Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival offers an extensive and exciting programme of exhibitions, installations, live performance, film screenings, workshops, placement opportunities and talks from industry professionals.

Festival highlights include a Cultural Crawl of host venues; Glastonbury favourite and raconteur Mik Artistik; highly praised physical theatre company Tmesis; Long Shot Micro Film Festival; Capriccio experimental music workshop; and a spooky silent disco.

NORTH is a new initiative aiming to build strength for contemporary art in the North of England. Together they will highlight the breadth of talent within the region, as well as attracting national and international artists with support from Arts Council England. Specially commissioned to present the festival's headline visual arts exhibition, NORTH presents The Dream Of Modern Living? - Contemporary Artists Explore IKEA.

Derek Dick, Exhibitions and Services Manager at Culture Warrington, commented: "It's just four weeks until the Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival 2015 gets underway, and we're delighted to announce such a diverse programme spanning all areas of the arts during our fifth festival year.

"The festival acts as a springboard for both emerging and established arts talent across the North West, so we are thrilled to be working in partnership with celebrated curators William Lunn and Paul Carey-Kent who will inspire and encourage the artists of the North - with the spotlight shining bright on Warrington."

Lead curator of North, William Lunn, is curator and director of the contemporary art gallery Copperfield, London and previously curated and co-directed Sumarria Lunn gallery. While only 26-years-old, he has curated more than 60 exhibitions and projects since the first exhibition he organised when he was aged 18, which included work by the now world famous Banksy.

Paul Carey-Kent is the curator for The Dream Of Modern Living? A former editor of Art World magazine, he now writes for publications including Art Monthly, Frieze and Photomonitor. He has become increasingly involved in freelance curatorial projects since 2013, and currently has shows in London and Berlin as well as Warrington. Earlier this year he curated The Absence of Presence for Berloni and Weight for the Showing at Maddox Arts.

The Pavilions For The North of England are curated by institutions and individuals who shape the arts in the North, including the Manchester Pavilion by BUREAU, Middlesbrough Pavilion by Platform A, Newcastle Pavilion by VANE, and Birmingham Pavilion curated by IKON gallery.

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