The Place of Alcohol in Sheffield’s Past, Present and Future - Art Exhibition
Event details
This event has taken place.
Description
, funded by the , is exploring what ‘craft’ has done for the history and future of the northern, post-industrial city of Sheffield. As a key centre of the ‘craft revolution’ since the 1990s, the relationship between Ӱҵand alcohol goes back much further, setting the stage for a new ethos of alcohol production that’s flourishing today.
We've commissioned three Ӱҵartists – , , and – to create pieces of work inspired by the city’s craft alcohol movement. Their contemporary interpretations will offer unique and original responses through different media and forms. These will be shown as a digital exhibition online, but also at several alcohol-related establishments across Ӱҵfrom June 2025. We will be launching the exhibition at Locksley Distilling at Portland Works on the 6th of June and would love to celebrate these amazing artworks with you then!
Schedule:
Locksley Distilling @ Portland Works - Friday 6 June to end of July
Brewery of St Mars of the Desert (SMOD) - Aug/Sept
Bath Hotel - Oct/Nov
ӰҵTap - Dec/Jan 2026
Central Library - Feb/March 2026
“My drawings reference the experience of craft alcohol in 3 stages - the production, the enjoyment and the aftermath. The first drawing is based on a photo I took at Locksley Distilling of craft gin being bottled. The second is my interpretation of a Pete McKee print that hangs in The Brother’s Arms. The final image is of a disregarded can of Moonshine from Abbeydale Brewery.”
Instagram: @jessicaheywoodart
“The artwork I produced for this research project consists of a triptych depicting a narrative of Sheffield’s brewing and distilling heritage and history, through maps and regional materialculture, spanning from the Bronze Age to the 1900s. It involves drinking vessels and well-known cultural objects and landmarks from historic peoples and past civilisations, illustrating how evolving cultural practices, conquests, and migration shaped local traditions, especially those surrounding ale consumption, land use, and community formation. I chose to focus on these periods because, whilst Ӱҵis widely known for its steel industry, its rich and ongoing archaeological record also deserves greater attention and recognition.”
Instagram: @mariamarinouart
“Guided by research on Mary Wollstonecraft and her seminal book ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’, Austrian biochemist Dr Dora Kulka, a Ӱҵrefugee who was essential to the making of British beer and by conversations I had with Sheffield’s own Cynthia King and Martha Holley-Paquette, my photo-poem piece centres women in the Ӱҵgin and beer making scene as we grapple with questions on the “meaning” of craft. I explore the significance of the body, space and place to this question, while playing with the intoxicating effects of alcohol— asking spectators to look twice while exploring and emphasising the juxtaposition between scientific objects and human joy in craft making and drinking.”
Instagram: @wemmyogunyankin