A VISUAL arts exhibition that was due to play a central part at this year’s Salisbury International Arts Festival will instead be going online.

The team at Wiltshire Creative have come up with ways of opening up the Makers’ Tale exhibition to everyone during the Salisbury 2020 Big Weekend.

The exhibition focuses on craft and making as being a highly relevant part of contemporary life. On Sunday (May 31) at 12noon curators Mirka Golden-Hann and Loucia Manopoulou will be in conversation with some of the key artists involved in the exhibition, discussing their work, their processes and their inspiration.

The discussion will feature artists Hermione Thomson, Peta Jacobs, Manuela Kagerbauer, Michelle Shields and Cara Wassenberg, composer Dr Harry Whalley and Salisbury Cathedral representative Canon Robert Titley.

The exhibition presents new insights into the particular craft methods which are deeply rooted in a historical context yet connected to today.

Makers’ Tale is co-curated with Loucia Manopoulou and is a result of a co-operation between Wiltshire Creative and the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, in association with Salisbury Cathedral.

Go to wiltshirecreative.co.uk to view the discussions and a digital version of the exhibition catalogue.

As part of the Salisbury 2020 Big Weekend, Wiltshire Creative is also organising a series of live panel discussions about the challenges and opportunities of being a modern city, under the title What Next for the City?

The four ‘Question Time-style’ discussions, each will be held live online today (Friday, May 29) and tomorrow (Saturday, May 30) and anyone can book a free place or contribute a question.

The first, on Friday, at 5.30pm, will look at the role of the arts and culture in a 21st century city. Chaired by Wiltshire Creative’s artistic director Gareth Machin, panellists will include Sir Nicholas Serota, chair of Arts Council England, Helen Birchenough, former chair of Salisbury Playhouse and Salisbury International Arts Festival, and John McGrath, artistic director of Manchester International Festival and founding Director of National Theatre Wales.

The second discussion, on Saturday, at 11am, asks how modern cities can benefit all their citizens to ensure wealth is shared fairly while the third at 2.30pm asks if cities can balance economic growth and environmental sustainability.

Panellists include Gary Topp, former CEO of Greening Australia and Powerbrokers International fellow and climate sector consultant Harpreet Kaur.

The final discussion on Saturday at 5.30pm, looks at how the high street can reinvent itself to stay central to modern life. Chaired by Wiltshire Creative’s Development Director Helen Taylor, panellists will include the chair of Salisbury Indies, Susi Mason, former president of RIBA George Ferguson and writer Jonathan Meades, whose work includes films about Salisbury and an autobiography about his childhood in the city.

Each panel will also include a young person from the community, aged between 15 and 20.