Ghosts of Every Shade

Alchemy and The Leeds Library present

Digital Spirits


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Simon Armitage

Eleven Elms

Acclaimed poet, playwright, novelist and librettist Simon Armitage reads from his short story Eleven Elms especially written for The Haunting. A riveting enactment of a strange and unusual tale. A new classic in the ghost story genre.

Imtiaz Dharker

Spoken Art

Image and word often go hand in hand in Imtiaz Dharker's practice. Spoken Art - the first online exhibition of Imtiaz's drawings – powerfully depict the seemingly powerless. Women dominate as she explores the contested territories of their bodies and minds with word, cloth and form often merging.

Most of the works are for sale and all of them are one-off original drawings. If you are interested in purchasing one of the works that is available for sale please contact umimistry@alchemyanew.com. Once the transaction is finalised payment to be made directly to the artist.

A collection of poems by Imtiaz Dharker is also available. To download please click here.

  • Over the Moon: Pomegranate Seeds 2014

    Pen and ink on hand made paper

    Collection of the Artist

  • Purdah 5 2005

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Aixa at the Window 2005

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Alif, The Opening 10 2005

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Alif, The Opening 4 2005

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Alif, The Opening 3 2005

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Alif, The Opening 2 2005

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Alif, The Opening 1 2005

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Our names are prayers

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Aixa at the Alhambra (Diptych) 2005

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Leaving fingerprints 2 2008

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Leaving fingerprints 3 2008

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Leaving fingerprints 5 2008

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Leaving fingerprints 4 2008

    Pen and ink on paper

  • This is who you are 4 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • The calligraphy of roots 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • This is who you are 3 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • This is who you are 2 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • From the River's Edge 2015

    Pen and ink on paper

  • This is who you are 1 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • I would have taken you to the Naz cafe 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • You touch me and I change 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Through the dandelion head of time 1 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Leaving fingerprints 1 2008

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Leftover from other lives 1993

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Postcard from god 2 1993

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Who turned the key? 2 1993

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Who turned the key? 1 1993

    Pen and ink on paper

  • To wear my life like a skin of glass 2009

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Through the dandelion head of time 2 2013

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Line 2015

    Pen and ink on paper

  • Postcard from god 1 1993

    Pen and ink on paper

  • The Unmade Bed 2015

    Pen and ink on paper

  • A Haunting 2016

    Pen and ink on paper

  • A Haunting 2016

    Pen and ink on paper

  • A Haunting 2016

    Pen and ink on paper

  • A Haunting 2016

    Pen and ink on paper

  • A Haunting 2016

    Pen and ink on paper

  • A Haunting 2016

    Pen and ink on paper

  • A Haunting 2016

    Pen and ink on paper

Steve Manthorp

Underworlds, Overworlds and Otherworlds

Be spellbound by Steve Manthorp's The Haunted Doll's House. It reveals his fascination with the arcane, the macabre, memento mori and illusionary effects.

A small number of the works are for sale, including The Haunted Doll's House. If you are interested in purchasing one of the works that is available for sale please contact umimistry@alchemyanew.com. Once the transaction is finalised payment to be made directly to the artist.

  • Eye of Providence 1992

    Ebony, mother of pearl, abalone shell, amber

    Private Collection

  • The Holy Grail 1995

    Box wood, ebony, gilded boxwood, brass and mother of pearl

    Private Collection

  • Memento Mori 1990

    Mahogany, brass, ruched leather and holly burr

    Private Collection

  • Adders and Ladders 1994

    Boxwood, ebony, tagua nut and brass

    Private Collection

  • Bell, Book and Candle 1996

    African blackwood, boxwood, rosewood, steamed pear, brass, tagua nut, amber, mother of pearl and gold

    Private Collection

  • Et In Arcadio Ego: Lifting the Veil 1997

    Sycamore, ebony and oak veneers, tagua nut, mother of pearl, blue, gold and red paint

    Private Collection

  • Albigensian Heresy 1996

    Ebony, box wood, brass, mother of pearl, opal and tagua nut

    Private Collection

  • Failed Suicide 1992

    Steamed pear, tagua nut, mother of pearl and jet

    Private Collection

  • Staff 1996

    Sycamore, quartz, tagua nut

    Charlie Manthorp collection

  • Lovehearts (brooch and box) 1993

    Limewood, taxidermy cat's eye, silver, satin, brass, fish-hooks. Lovehearts is two pieces in one: a biomorphic box containing a piece of conceptual jewellery.

    £300

  • The Diary of Mr. Poynter 1997

    Boxwood, brass, mother-of-pearl, tagua nut, garnets and coral

    David Thomson collection

  • The Haunted Doll's House 2016

    Wood, ceramic, copper, brass, steel, aluminium, paper, cloth, paint, PVA, polycarbonate, plastic, damask & other textiles, fimo flocked wallpaper, woven cane, leather, miniature LED electrics, clock, Raspberry Pi, 7” TFT screen. Ghost performed by Ian Taylor

    £2,000

Joe Williams & Jonnie Khan

The Haunted Doll's House

Actor and scholar Joe Williams' basso profundo tones will thrill and chill you as he reads from four ghost stories from around the world interwoven with the sorcery of Jonnie Khan's gossamer soundscapes.

  • The Haunted Doll's House by M R James

  • A Face in the Dark by Ruskin Bond

  • Faeries of the Nile by Mansoura Ez-Eldin

  • Pomegranate Seed by Edith Wharton

Jack Lockhart

Spirits on the Move

Watch Jack Lockhart's enthralling animations of M.R. James's The Haunted Doll's House and Adele Howitt's That Which You Cannot See…based on Edith Wharton's disturbing short story Pomegranate Seed.

Zareena Bano

Sorcerers, Shapeshifters and Spirit Beings

Zareena has created a number of works on recycled glass that are loosely based on Iranian epic literature, which was also popular in India, such as Ferdowsi's epic Shahnameh or the Book of Kings (10th-11th century). Early kings and heroes fight demons at every turn. Demons are not always physical creatures. They can be the immaterial forces of temptation, distraction, and fate.

Male and female characters in the Shahnameh differ in their abilities to combat the demonic and are lured into wickedness by different means. Zareena's beautiful works create an interplay between human beings and demons through a sophisticated portrayal of evil.

  • Composite Elephant
  • Shape Shifter
  • Damsel Dragon
  • Rustom Overcoming the White Demon (scene from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh)
  • Heroic adventures of Hamza (inspired by The Hamzanama or Legends of Hamza)
  • Hazaraaron Khawahishen (Thousand Wishes)
  • Waq Waq Tree (The Speaking Tree)
  • The evil reign of Zahhak when demons and other malevolent creatures prosper
  • Sorceress
  • Spirit Being

Artists' Reflections

Poets Rommi Smith and John Siddique, artist Adele Howitt, and musician and composer Jonnie Khan give insights into the alchemical process that takes them from concept to creation.

  • Rommi Smith

  • John Siddique

  • Adele Howitt

  • Jonnie Khan

Performances

  • Imtiaz Dharker (Part 1)

  • Imtiaz Dharker (Part 2)

  • John Siddique

  • Rommi Smith with Dave Evans & Kenny Higgins

  • Joe Williams with Jonnie Khan

  • Rob Green, Christella Litras & Jonnie Khan

  • Imtiaz Dharker (Q&A)

Programme

Steve Manthorp - The Haunted Doll's House detail 2016 ©Steve Manthorp

Join us for thrilling, chilling, reflective, sometimes probing explorations of ghosts and hauntings through poetry, performance, visual arts, soundscape, dance, vocals and film. A month-long programme of live and online events includes new commissions, performances, masterclasses, workshops, salons as well as Ghostly Trails sited in The Leeds Library.

Poetry commissions by Simon Armitage, Imtiaz Dharker, Rommi Smith and John Siddique respond in unexpected ways to what haunts and possesses us, showing how and why these are not always supernatural forces.

Download full programme of events

Experience Steve Manthorp's exquisitely detailed and unsettling The Haunted Doll's House, based on M.R. James' classic ghost story of the same name. Explore Adele Howitt's ceramic installation responding to Edith Wharton's quietly terrifying story, Pomegranate Seed, of a spectral spouse infiltrating an otherwise unremarkable New York apartment. This is part of Ghostly Trails which also includes a wealth of memento mori, sketches and paintings and will be available for viewing at The Leeds Library throughout the duration of the programme.

The Window Installation at The Leeds Library curated by Steve Manthorp, with soundscapes by Jonnie Khan and readings by Joe Williams, provides a mesmerising array of images, plus animation by Jack Lockhart which can be enjoyed by passers-by on Commercial Street. Other key highlights include writing masterclasses by Simon Armitage and Rommi Smith, enigmatic installations by artist Zareena Bano and a satisfyingly spooky Halloween workshop.

The majority of events are in The Leeds Library, Commercial Street Leeds, LS1 6AL with some events taking place in Ilkley Literature Festival venues and a special screening in Mill Hill Chapel, City Square Leeds, LS1 5EB.

Credits

  • Curated by Nima Poovaya-Smith
  • Filming & Editing: Jimi Lund, Cut and Splice
  • Additional Filming: Ashley Karrell
  • Photography: Richard Littlewood
  • Website: Stephen Griffin, Notepad Web Development
  • Soundscapes: Jonnie Khan
  • Digital Artwork: Jack Lockhart
  • Programme Design: Howard Mruczek, Primary Colour
  • Film Locations: The Leeds Library, The Barbican, King's Hall Ilkley
  • General Editing: Umi Mistry and Nima Poovaya-Smith