The Brontë Society are delighted to release their upcoming contemporary arts programme for October 2015 to February 2016. Featuring talks from high profile writers, a music installation, after-hours events, festive workshops and a sneak preview of upcoming events for Charlotte Brontë's bicentenary year, the programme showcases and celebrates the ways in which contemporary writers and artists are inspired by the Brontës and their home. The programme is generously supported by Arts Council England.
We kick off our programme in October 2015 with Linger, a specially commissioned musical installation by internationally prize-winning contemporary classical composer Ailís Ní Ríain. Ailís, who lives near Haworth, has created six original piano pieces composed for and performed on Emily Brontë's piano. Each composition reflects the essence of the room it is heard in. Visitors to the museum are invited to dwell in quiet contemplation and thought; to linger. The installation will run from 10 October 2015 to 3 January 2016, and is free with admission to the museum.
Sophie Hannah, the queen of psychological fiction, will visit Haworth in late October, to talk about her new novel, the acclaimed standalone thriller A Game for All the Family. She'll also discuss the process behind writing The Monogram Murders, the first Poirot novel written since the death of Agatha Christie and with the blessing of the Christie estate.
We will be marking the nationwide Museums at Night celebrations with a completely unique after dark experience at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, as Ailís Ní Ríain plays her new compositions on the Brontë piano on 30 Friday October.
2016 is an important year on the Brontë calendar: April 21 will mark the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë's birth. The Brontë Society has invited bestselling novelist Tracy Chevalier to curate an exhibition and plan a series of events to celebrate Charlotte's bicentenary. I Shall Go Off Like a Bombshell: Charlotte Great and Small will open at the Parsonage on 1 February 2016, and has been designed by Tracy Chevalier to explore, through objects and quotations, the constrast between Charlotte's constricted life and her huge ambition. Contemporary art installations will also be displayed throughout the Parsonage in 2016, with UK and international artists responding to the idea of the miniature.
Tracy Chevalier will speak in Haworth in early February to celebrate the launch of I Shall Go Off Like a Bombshell, and will discuss her long-held interest in Charlotte Brontë and the process behind pulling together such a unique exhibition to celebrate Charlotte in her bicentenary year.
The programme is funded with generous support from Arts Council England. The view the full programme in PDF format, please click the "Downloads" button to the right of your screen.