Immersive River Wharfe exhibition comes to Ilkley

Artist Anji Timlin at Hewenden Hall [Photo: Daniel Johnson Gray]

Artist Anji Timlin presents CONDUiT – Wharfespeed, an immersive exhibition of large-scale paintings celebrating the River Wharfe and the communities, landscapes and stories connected to it.

Taking place in the Western Gallery at Ilkley Manor House, the exhibition features Timlin’s most ambitious and dramatic paintings of the river to date. Expressive and atmospheric, the works form the centrepiece of Wharfespeed, a multi-strand programme exploring our relationship with rivers and the natural world.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of live music, film, storytelling, poetry and prose, including a screening of The Kingdom Beneath the Current, an underwater film by Mark Barrow of Beneath British Waters, revealing the hidden life beneath the surface of the River Wharfe.

Highlights include:

• Storytelling – Sunday 27 September, 2–3pm: an afternoon exploring connections with rivers, landscape and place with storyteller Vickie Orton and Carol Timlin. No booking required.

• Poetry & prose – Saturday 3 October, 2–3.30pm: authors Rob Cowen and Dr Amy-Jane Beer will share work inspired by rivers, followed by a Q&A and discussion. Seating is limited.

• Live performance – Friday 9 October, 7.30pm: Bradford audiovisual duo Latterhand collaborate with Anji Timlin for an evening of live performance and painting inspired by the sights and sounds of the River Wharfe. Tickets available through the Ilkley Manor House website.

• A related display from Ilkley Clean River Group and Yorkshire Water will extend the exhibition’s exploration of the river.

Wharfespeed is part of the wider CONDUiT Project, which explores rivers, communities and place across the region. Its sister exhibition, Know Your Worth, takes place at Keighley Civic Centre until 26th September, featuring work created with communities living along the River Worth.

CONDUiT – Wharfespeed can be viewed weekends between 11am and 4pm until 18 October, and is supported by Bradford Culture Company, City of Bradford Metropolitan Council, Arts Council England, Keighley Town Council, LCF Law, Friendly Framing, HATCH, Get Out More, Ilkley Clean River Group, Aire Rivers Trust, Photo Hub North, Ilkley Literature Festival, Timothy Taylor's Brewery, Simon Stell and Wallace Seymour. 

Photos of the paintings and of Anji in the studio are by Photographer Daniel Johnson Gray.