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Artist Faye Dobinson will be displaying the artwork created during her residency at The Morrab Library in the Elizabeth Treffry Room from Tuesday 23rd to Saturday 27th April 2024.

Faye called her residency ‘Community Power Structure’, a title borrowed from a 1953 book cover that caught her eye while visiting the library. You can find out more about Faye’s work in this blog we shared last July. 

As the months progressed, she shared glimpses of the work on @communitypowerstructure, where she highlighted some of the lesser spotted details within the Library rooms, such as the locks and escutcheons. She explored the library through a myriad of different artistic processes and through that, different facets of the space revealed themselves and found form in curious and unexpected works of art. From moulds of obsolete locks to cyanotypes of plants outside.

Reflecting upon her residency, Faye commented:

“I have found that my time at Morrab has impacted my practice moving forward. I have a curious mind that is alive with possibilities, and a library – ESPECIALLY the Morrab is like an embodiment of possibility. 

You begin looking for a book on one thing, then find yourself on a magical mystery tour, led by what piques your curiosity. It is a broadly roaming journey that is impossible to have via google and other online means to research: Your own curiosity cannot be prescribed by the library, you are not just a generalised algorithm being presented with ideas. To a library you are an intrigued, vital intersection of interests, events, loves, likes and dislikes. You are a human being.

I have been watching myself make more work around the initial keyhole studies that I made: the keyholes have taken on layers of meaning over time, becoming portals populating mystical, rural spaces or suggestive openings to unknown rooms, they are signifiers of quiet and peace. They are guardians of knowledge.  

I am really looking forward to presenting my findings and sharing my journey within the walls of Morrab Library” 

Visitors are welcome to pop in during library hours (10am – 4pm) next week to see the exhibition. The Elizabeth Treffry Room is upstairs, turn right at the top of the stairs and it is the first door on the left. The artist will be in situ on Thursday 25th (1-3pm), Friday 26th (1-3pm) and Saturday 27th (10am – 1pm) to chat to visitors about her work.  

She will be running the last of her series of Art Clubs, “art and soul sessions”, at the library on Thursday 25th April from 10.30am – 12pm. Tickets are £10 and available to book directly from fayedobinson@me.com.

She will also be giving a talk at the Library on Wednesday 24th about her affection for The Morrab Library, what she unearthed about the space and herself through being one of the recent Artists in Residence. Tickets have already been allocated via a ballot but we will be recording it to share on our website.

@communitypowerstructure

www.fayedobinson.com

On Thursday evening 2 May 2024 the inaugural John le Carré Memorial Lecture will be presented by The Morrab Library at the Acorn Theatre in Penzance. Tickets for the event have sold out.

Sponsored by The Arts Society West Cornwall and planned to be a biennial event, the first lecture will feature guest speaker Mick Herron, celebrated author of the Slow Horses / Slough House espionage novels, which have been adapted into a successful TV series starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas.

World-renowned espionage writer John le Carré (real name: David John Moore Cornwell) lived in St Buryan, Cornwall, until his death in 2020, at the age of 89. He was the author of 26 novels, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Constant Gardener, The Night Manager, The Little Drummer Girl, A Perfect Spy et al, many of which have been adapted into feature films and television series, plus five works of nonfiction, including his 2016 memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life.

Le Carré was a passionate supporter of the Morrab from the 1970s, later serving as president (1997-2002), then for many years as a patron. He called the library “a Cornish treasure house, a meeting place for like-minded souls, and a vibrant forum for contemporary writing,” with a special interest in encouraging young people to read and be inspired by the place.

The title of Herron’s lecture is “Running Away with the Circus.” Raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, he studied English Literature at Oxford. His first novel, Down Cemetery Road, set in Oxford, was published in 2003. Herron’s most recent novel, The Secret House, provides insights to the Slough House series with its riveting reveal about a disastrous MI5 mission in post-Cold War Berlin.

Associated events for this inaugural lecture include a loaned exhibition of John le Carré memorabilia at Penlee House Gallery & Museum (17 April-6 May); a “meet the author” gathering hosted by Penzance Mayor Cllr Stephen Reynolds; a writing workshop with students at Penwith College; and a “Conversation with Mick Herron” plus book signing at the Edge of the World Bookshop, on Market Jew Street in Penzance (3 May).

The Acorn event has been planned with the full and enthusiastic cooperation of le Carré’s family. His son Nick Cornwell will speak about his father in advance of the lecture, and Nick’s brother Simon Cornwell and their families plan to attend.