Projecting into Much Wenlock

Holy Trinity Church with projections on it - so the lines of the edges of the building are lit up with neon coloursMuch Wenlock is a small Shropshire town, home of the late William Penny Brookes who inspired the modern Olympic Games. Last weekend, it came alive with a variety of art events by disabled artists, including PUSH ME’s Simon McKeown.

Entitled M21: From the Medieval to the 21st Century the collection of interventions was presented by DASH (Disability Arts in Shropshire) as part of Unlimited, which is the ground-breaking Cultural Olympiad programme that celebrates arts and culture by disabled and deaf artists.

Mike Layward, Artistic Director with DASH stated: ‘M21 will bring together the history of this small Shropshire town with the politics of live art to confront the reality of modern rural living. Never before have so many of the UK’s leading disabled live artists gathered in a small town in middle England.’

One of the artists taking part was Simon Mckeown, from North Yorkshire, who is within our PUSH ME fold with Motion Disabled Unlimited. He is one of the UK’s most experienced digital practitioners and for M21 transformed the 7th Century Holy Trinity Church with a mix of technology using outdoor projections, opera singing, an accordion and animated creatures inspired by a Benedictine Nun, St Milaburga, locally reknown as a miracle worker who had a mysterious power over birds.

Holy Trinity Church with projections on it - there are four green neon rings on the side of the churchSimon commented: “Much Wenlock is a fantastic ancient town, and the miracle worker Milburga was one of its founders over 1000 years ago. As home of modern Olympics, the town has a great and almost fantastical history. I can’t wait to bring it alive with visual magic and wonderful live music.’

We are waiting to here from Simon how it went – but love these images we’ve been sent. We’re curious to find out more – and lucky that we’re spending the day with Simon soon as he picks up his inflatable avatar for Motion Disabled: Unlimited – we’ll quiz him then.