National Festival of Making with Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery and Artangel present Come As You Really Are by Hetain Patel.

 

Every day, millions of us dedicate time to our favourite hobbies; as a way to express ourselves and be creative. Whether you make it, modify it or collect it, we want to hear from you. The loudest presentation of our quiet pastimes, Come As You Really Are is an exhibition of artist Hetain Patel’s work, alongside objects that have been lovingly created by people across the UK.

At the heart of this project is a nationwide community of people whose labours of love are a lens through which the artist presents an alternative portrait of the UK.

As part of the 2025 National Festival of Making, with Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery we will exhibit Come As You Really Are by Hetain Patel, a new exhibition featuring contributions from hobbyists across Lancashire and the UK.

Alongside the exhibition, we will host talks, performances, film screenings and workshops across the weekend. Details to be announced soon.

 

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Open Call: Get Involved

We are looking for people from Lancashire who want to share their favourite hobbies and be part of this exciting exhibition. Could this be you?

We are looking for passionate people who would like to publicly display the things they have made or collected as part of their hobby. The hobbies can be anything, from painted rocks, crocheted frogs, model trains or beekeeping equipment, the choice is yours!

Exhibited objects will be on display at Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery from Friday 4th July to 23rd August. We will need your objects from late June until the end of August.

 

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We are also looking for people who:

• Want to perform their hobby (choirs? dancers? freestyle footballers?)
• People who can teach or demonstrate their hobby (eg craft skills, traditional skills, unusual pastimes) during the National Festival of Making weekend on 5 – 6th July 2025.

Remember, the hobbies can be anything from henna painting to clog dancing, lace making to a one-shot live D&D campaign! We are open to all ideas.

 

 

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Who is Eligible to Apply?

We welcome responses from: 

• Anyone living in Lancashire
• Anyone who has a hobby, collection, or pastime to share

And if you have an alternative idea, we want to hear from you!

 

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How to Apply

Fill out this short form to tell us a little about yourself, what you do in your spare time and why you do it. The form takes less than 5 minutes to fill out. 

If you would like the application information in a different format or to discuss alternative ways to apply, please email applications@festivalofmaking.co.uk. We are open to many alternative ways to submit including video and audio recordings.

We can’t wait to see what you share!

Deadline for Applications: Friday 28th March 2025, 5.00 pm. 

 

 

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About the Artist

Hetain Patel is a London-based artist and filmmaker, whose work challenges reductive categorisations of identity and art. Often rooted in personal experience and that of his immigrant family, Patel’s work invites us to see identity as multi-dimensional and complex, linked as much to what we choose to do, as to that which is assigned by birth, heritage, social norms, and conventions. 

Patel’s films, sculptures, live performances, paintings and photographs have been shown worldwide in galleries, theatres and on iconic public screens, including Piccadilly Circus, London, and Times Square, New York. His works have been presented at the Venice Biennale, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing and in London at institutions including Tate Modern and Sadler’s Wells.

 

 

Patel’s works are in public and private collections in the UK and internationally, including Tate, British Council, Arts Council England, Government Art Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, M+ Museum Hong Kong, KNMA New Delhi, and Fondazione In Between Art Film, Rome.

 

There is a vulnerability in sharing something so personal, which often happens in private spaces around the responsibilities of daily life. But there is also a tremendous power in sharing collectively, which is at the heart of this project. I hope people join us in this celebration of the unstoppable nature of self-expression that is demonstrated by our hobbies. 

– Hetain Patel

 

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About Artangel

Artangel produces and presents extraordinary art in unexpected places across London, the UK, and beyond. For over thirty years, Artangel has generated some of the most widely discussed art of recent times, including prominent large-scale projects with artists who have become household names in the UK, including the likes of Jeremy Deller, Roger Hiorns, Michael Landy, Steve McQueen and Rachel Whiteread.

Recent Artangel projects include Sarah Sze’s The Waiting Room, Marcus Coates’ The Directors, Afterness on Orford Ness, Suffolk, Evan Roth’s Red Lines, Jonathan Glazer’s short film STRASBOURG 1518, made for the BBC, Elizabeth Price’s SLOW DANS, Oscar Murillo’s Frequencies and Steve McQueen’s Year 3, in collaboration with Tate Britain and A New Direction. 

Come As You Really Are by Hetain Patel

Commissioned and Produced by Artangel. In partnership with National Festival of Making with Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery; Factory International, Manchester; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool; Museum of Making, Derby Museums Trust; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Barnsley Civic; Inverness Museum and Art Gallery; Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland; CCA Derry~Londonderry; Hospitalfield, Arbroath and Tate St Ives.

Supported by Artangel’s Guardian Angels.

With thanks to Creative Lives.