Jamming with the Shaman!
Drums, guitar and shamanic activity – Jane, Rob and John Fairhurst
Dear Humans. It is a pleasure to have you bear witness this entirely improvised experience of dance and music. Visualised by our mother, Jane Fairhurst for her 2022 Exhibition Magical Threads, this happening brought my brother Rob and I together as musicians for the first time in our adult lives and has led onto a close musical partnership over the last two very strange and difficult years.. It is with great pleasure that we as a family bring you this unfettered exploration of our music, dance, art, personal and mutual freedom and our shared philosophies of life. We hope you enjoy joining us on this little journey.
About Janes current work and exhibition:
Artist Jane Fairhurst brings her Magical Threads to Manchester’s Deansgate In 24/7 Art exhibition at 285 Deansgate 11th February – 5th March 2022 Jane Fairhurst is a professional artist with over three decades making art, exhibiting and curating exhibitions. She attended Liverpool School of Art at 18 and has been studio-based for over 20 years. She gained a Master’s degree with distinction from Liverpool John Moores University in 2010. Jane works across a range of media including textile sculptures, painting, drawing, mixed media and installation from her studio at Cross Street Arts in Greater Manchester. Fairhurst’s Magical Threads installation comprises 3 bodies of work developed from her research into ancient symbols of protection. As individuals we often feel powerless to effect change and at such times may resort to older forms of magical protection, amulets, talismans and fetishes. The taller Fetishes for Uncertain Times were made in response to unsettling global politics and increasing climate change. Created from assymetrical fabric pieces sewn together in no particular order, the shape only emerging as wadding is pushed into every corner and crevice. Amulet devices, in the form of twisted threads, shiny buttons and beads, embroidered knots and wavy lines, are then added using traditional craft skills handed down through generations of women in my family, the distaff side or female line. Magical Threads of the Distaff Side reference the long association of women with the production of thread and cloth and are a reminder of our more recent disassociation through mass production and the problems created through clothing worn once then discarded. The distaff is a three-pronged stick that held the raw material, wool, linen, cotton, from which a thread was drawn. The freestanding metal distaffs provide plinths for my smaller textile pieces. In her Textile Paintings Fairhurst responds directly to her textile sculptures. She enjoys the process of painting and particularly the challenge of observational painting, the way the light falls, in this case, on the various fabrics and attached buttons, beads, nazaars (evil eye beads) and embroidery. The abstract nature of the subject matter also appeals, as does painting something that is of her own creation. Jamming with the Shaman, which you can find by scanning the QR code, is part of a performance work made in association her sons John and Rob Fairhurst, both musicians. The Shaman costume is one made specifically for a performance to celebrate the return of the ancient Greek goddess Persephone, the personification of spring. Watch this Space is a project run by Great Northern Warehouse in association with arts collective, Dez Rez Projects to spotlight artists and creative businesses working in Greater Manchester. Follow the installations as they happen and tune into Jane’s takeover on Instagram @dezrezprojects Jane Fairhurst – janefairhurst.co.uk
