Intriguing work of art transforms Norwich Cathedral’s Hostry

Artists Alida Sayer(pictured) and Nicole Vinokur have created a new exhibition called 'Shucky, Hintut?' for the Hostry at Norwich Cathedral.PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY (Image: ARCHANT NORFOLK)

Shucky, Hintut? is the creation of artists Alida Sayer and Nicole Vinokur, and sees visitors come face to face with a curious wall of ropes which has transformed the exhibition space.

Alida said the installation, which has also seen the building's interior columns painted red, was designed to be playful and encourage people to interact with the Hostry in a new way.

She said: 'Originally we were invited to do a two-person show which conventionally would consist of a few works by each artist, but when we visited the space we felt it was quite a complex space with lots of textures and features, and we wanted to do something really bold that would really use the space [as part of the work] and transform the way people move around it.'

She said it was interesting to see the many different reactions from people to the work.

'We wanted to challenge people's paths through the space. It makes you look at it from a different perspective,' said Alida, who has a studio at Outpost Studios in Norwich.

As well as being inspired by the Hostry itself, the abstract work also features a number of other local references.

It takes its name from Norfolk dialect, with 'shucky' meaning shaggy or unkempt or hairy and 'hintut' meaning isn't it?, and it plays on the myth of the dog Black Shuck.

The idea of the ropes is a nod to how Normandy stone was laboriously hauled along a canal built by monks to build Norwich Cathedral, and it also aims to reflect the history of the textile industry locally.

There are also references to further afield, with the artists also saying they were inspired by the use of screens they encountered on trips to South Korea and China.

Nicole, who is based in London, said: 'Shucky, Hintut? is a culmination of ideas involving both of our time spent in Asia last year and responding to the invitation to make work in Norwich and its specific history...In a sense Shucky, Hintut? distills a number of interests and concerns which are and aren't entirely specific but is an offering of points to rest upon.'

Both artists studied at the Royal College of Art and last year they exhibited work separately in the Incunabula exhibition at Norwich Cathedral's library.

Shucky, Hintut? is at Norwich Cathedral's Hostry until September 1.

For more information, visit www.cathedral.org.uk