apart(y)

This summer, visitors to the National Trust’s Attingham Park, are invited to apart(y).

apart(y) is the culmination of the Legacy Project, a Trust New Art collaboration between Attingham Park and Pentabus Theatre. Working with young carers from Telford & Wrekin CVS, All Age Carers Centre the project has explored the legacy of the Attingham Estate, under the care of the National Trust, today.

The Mansion at Attingham Park was designed to host country house parties for the fashionable and influential upper classes at the height of the Georgian period. The formal Dining Room, historically the scene for grand banquets and evening dinners, has been the inspiration for the work of the Legacy Project, which has invited participants to explore the formalities and traditions of historic ‘parties’ through creating one of their own, but what are the key ingredients of a brilliant party?

Together participants have explored and shared memories and ideas about what makes a good party today. Audio responses along with objects and live experiences have been collated through online workshops and a virtual party. These will be curated and displayed in the real Dining Room at Attingham – so that that space becomes an interactive installation as we leave a ‘ghost’ of apart(y) in the room for visitors to discover and experience.

The project has had the added poignancy of taking place in the wider context of the lockdowns and restrictions bought about by the Coronavirus pandemic, when many people have spent long periods of time physically apart from each other. Apart(y) has meant we can be together even when we’re apart.

Helen Rowse, Collections and House Manager for Attingham said: ‘Attingham has always been a place where people get together, and we’ve really enjoyed working in this creative way to explore the links between past and present. After a year of being apart from loved ones, this project invites everyone to reflect on what it means to be together.’

apart(y) will be open to visitors to the Mansion at Attingham from Saturday 7 August, alongside other rooms on the ground floor of the Mansion, dressed to show the different types of uses of the spaces for occasions and celebrations. By holding a mirror up to the Mansion’s past, present and future of welcoming guests, the experience will reflect on what it means today to be included and invited into a grand, and exclusive space. Historically, only a small and privileged section of society would have received an invitation to a party at Attingham. But today, everyone’s welcome!

The Mansion ground floor, including apart(y), will be open daily from Saturday 7 August until the end of October. Entry to the Mansion is by timed token, at intervals between 10.30am and 4pm, available on a first come first served basis each day from Visitor Reception. During 2021 the team at Attingham are taking the opportunity to test a variety of experiences and different types of visit to the Mansion and will be making as many tickets available as they can. Visits to the Mansion will last for approximately 45 minutes.

For more information about visiting Attingham please visit the website www.nationaltrust.org.uk/attingham-park or call 01743 708170.