Living Art’s influential work Heath and Heaven Part I: A Portrait of the Peak District has been revealed to an appreciative and significant audience at the prominent
Association of National Park Authorities Conference, this year hosted by the Peak
District National Park in Buxton.
Some 150 delegates were treated to the visual spectacle that portrays the Peak
District National Park in a patchwork of beautifully crafted images captured from
the air by acclaimed photographer John Beatty and created by Living Art founder
Simon Homfray.
Heath & Heaven takes the viewer on a unique journey across every corner of the country’s first
National Park. Keen to capture the spirit of the Park, it shows the detail, warmth,
and essence of why we love the Park, why we use the Park and why we should celebrate
the Park and work to conserve it for future generations.
This important work is unique in being able to offer a different perspective
of the Peak District National Park, not only opening it to a wider audience, but
perhaps more importantly providing a valuable geographical resource as Flood Management
features high on the agenda of our environmental guardians. The National Parks
Conference provided the ideal platform from which to launch Living Art’s national
tour, a year long project that aims to inspire, educate and encourage all of us
to become more aware of our environment; to regard its beauty and to appreciate
the importance of the Park as a national treasure and the need to help safeguard
its future.
“Heath & Heaven takes the audience on a journey of discovery of both the more popular destinations
and introducing the lesser-known and least accessible landscapes,” says its creator
Si Homfray. “Living Art wants to encourage visitors to visit the Peak District,
to contribute to the local economy but in a responsible manner, to respect the
flora and fauna within the Peak District National Park.”
Explaining the idea behind the exhibition, he adds, “Heath and Heaven aims to convey a message that this National Park is a miniature working example
of how life really can work in balance and harmony with nature, and perhaps an
example for greater powers to take note.”
Heath & Heaven Part 1 is part of a Living Art national touring exhibition for 2007/08, supported by
the New Environmental Economy Programme, a grant scheme funded through contributions
from the European Regional Development Fund, Peak District National Park Authority,
Derby & Derbyshire Economic Partnership, Natural England, High Peak Borough
Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council and University of Derby.
Heath and Heaven Part II: A Portrait of The Lake District will be unveiled later this year and to form part of the national touring exhibition.
