A new exhibition by award-winning sculptor Tony Cragg is taking place at the historic English stately home, Castle Howard, in northern England. The exhibition aims to attract more Indian tourists to explore the history associated with the East India Company. The castle, set in nearly 9,000 acres of Yorkshire countryside, is known for being featured in popular shows such as "Bridgerton" and "Brideshead Revisited." The exhibition features 28 unique sculptures by Cragg spread across the grounds.
Castle Howard has an Indian connection dating back to architect John Vanbrugh's design of the estate's mausoleum, which he recreated in the style of the English Cemetery at Surat, Gujarat. The owners of the castle, Nicholas and Victoria Howard, have welcomed visitors from India and around the world to experience the historic site and the beauty of Yorkshire.
The exhibition, which opened this month and runs until September, showcases new and recent sculptures, including large-scale works in bronze, stainless steel, aluminium, and fibreglass installed across the grounds. Inside the house, there are works in bronze, wood, and glass sculptures presented alongside Cragg's works on paper.
Tony Cragg, the sculptor, expressed that within the beautiful landscape and historical architecture of Castle Howard, it is interesting to see where new and contemporary forms find a place and what role they might play. The exhibition aims to celebrate and demonstrate the importance of sculpture as an art form today, offering audiences surprising, hybrid forms that challenge thoughts and emotions.
Curator Dr Jon Wood explained: "Tony Cragg's passionate curiosity about materials and the complex lives of form always shines through his work. For him, sculpture is an amazing means of investigation that can shape human understandings of the world better than any other art form. His works are always dynamic, animated by movement, change and transformation.
"Works like 'Over the Earth', 'Runner' and 'Versus' sit compellingly in the grounds of Castle Howard – with its wonderful gardens, woods and lakes, historic interiors and collection of antique sculpture – inviting us to see the past through the present and to look at the world afresh."
Since the 1960s, Castle Howard has been used as a location for many film and television productions, and the team indicated they are keen to have a Bollywood film or song sequence shot on its grounds.
(With inputs from PTI)