Yorkshire Sculpture International 2019

In summer 2019, the first Yorkshire Sculpture International took place in Leeds and Wakefield. It was the UK’s largest dedicated sculpture festival, a series of exhibitions, international commissions, events and learning programmes – with sculpture in its broadest forms on display across the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery, The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and outdoors in Leeds and Wakefield.

Artist Phyllida Barlow was the provocateur for the festival and presented a series of statements. One of the most compelling of these – “Sculpture is the most anthropological of the art forms” – was explored through the exhibitions and events. The programme brought together artists who share an interest in harnessing the cultural histories and physical properties of the materials they use. At the heart of the free 100 day festival was the idea that there is a basic human impulse to make and connect with objects, and that making sculpture is part of human nature.

Yorkshire Sculpture International 2019 featured major new commissions in city centre locations; Ayşe Erkmen made a work responding to the Central Court at Leeds Art Gallery, Huma Bhabha presented her first UK public commission in Wakefield. Tarek Atoui worked with local communities on performances in Wakefield.