The balcony at Buckingham Palace, Silver Jubilee 1936

The Princess Mary Archive, housed at Harewood House, features in a new three-part series on Channel 4 from Sunday 11 August.

A new series tells the story of the royal family over three turbulent decades from the 1920s to the end of World War Two, and draws extensively from a series of personal letters, diaries and photograph albums, many of which are held at Harewood House. The series looks at key moments in history from the end of the First World War onwards, including events around George V changing the royal family’s name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor and Princess Mary marrying Henry, Viscount Lascelles and future 6th Earl of Harewood.

This will be the first time that contents of The Princess Mary Archive have been so visibly and comprehensively explored for a documentary, following its long-term loan to Harewood House Trust in 2018. Totalling over 170 boxes, it includes her private correspondence, press cuttings and diaries, which relate to her wedding, family and public life. While this archive has been known and researched for displays at Harewood, Princess Mary’s vast personal correspondence is yet to be fully catalogued. The archive’s loan to the Trust, coupled with investment by the Trust in a new Collections database, will enable a programme for this cataloguing to be put in place over time.

As this cataloguing takes place, the Trust will look to provide access in line with its mission as an educational charity to maintain and develop Harewood, its collections and grounds for the public benefit. The centenary in 2022 of the marriage of HRH The Princess Mary to Henry, Viscount Lascelles will be just one platform for sharing new information as it is uncovered.

The Queen’s Lost Family airs on Channel 4 at 8pm for three weeks from 11 August.
28 September – 3 November 2019 ‘In Their Own Words’ at Harewood House

Features the recently conserved wedding train and slippers and a flower headdress, in addition to personal letters, diary entries and artefacts.

The walls are ablaze with colour and youth as the summer heralds the new exhibition of the Red Kite Alliance A-Level Art exhibition.

Now in its 11th year, and featuring 13 schools across the Leeds, Harrogate, Ilkley and Otley areas, with over a hundred pieces of art on display and free to visit in Harewood’s Courtyard from now until the beginning of September.

Schools include Benton Park School, Brigshaw High School, Crawshaw Academy, Harrogate Grammar School, Ilkley Grammar School, Lawnswood School, Malton School, Prince Henry’s Grammar School, Ralph Thoresby High School, Rossett School, Roundhay School, South Craven School, Temple Moor High School.

Comments Kathryn Welford, Harewood House Learning Manager; “There’s an exceptional level of talent in this room and we’re delighted to see the artwork on public display for visitors to see. Each student should feel a real sense of achievement.”

“The education programme available at Harewood is about creativity across all subject areas. It has been interesting to see how some of the work on show has drawn inspiration from connections to Harewood, such as a botanical study, combining biology with art and design. As an education charity, our work is to support, nurture and provide a learning environment for the next generation of scientists, artists, creators, designers or whatever they might become and it’s something we are committed to provide a platform for. ”

The exhibition is free to visitors to the House and Grounds and will be on display throughout the summer until Sunday 1 September.

To find out more about Harewood’s education programme learn@harewood.org

A weekend dedicated to making, music and merriment will be held at Harewood House this July with Aardman Animations the first announcement for the festival-style event that will feature demonstrations, workshops, street food, pop-up bars and live DJ sets.

Make It Harewood launches on 6 & 7 July 2019 in collaboration with Hole & Corner as part of the Harewood Biennial and its current first exhibition, Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters and takes place in and around the Harewood Courtyard featuring a full programme of workshops and demonstrations, DJs and live music, a craft market, plus local food and drinks.

With over forty events across the weekend, visitors can pick from a selection of free drop-in sessions, alongside paid for experiences. They can observe, dabble and delve into an engaging programme of events and activities encompassing the many different sides of craft and presented by some of the world’s leading designer-makers and artisans. Whether throwing pottery, carving spoons or sculpting with paper, there will be something for all interests from intimate workshops to family sessions.

Comments Jane Marriott, Director, Harewood House Trust; “We’re extremely excited to be launching a new festival here at Harewood, which continues our exploration around the subject of Craft and its role in society today. As part of our focus to attract the best quality talent to Harewood for our visitors to enjoy, we couldn’t be more delighted to be working with Hole & Corner, who have been successfully creating amazing experiences at events such as Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall since 2015.

“Make It Harewood will offer a new perspective to all our visitors, with after-hours bars and live DJ sets, in addition to a wealth of talented artists and performers. As a charity, we are dependent on our Members and visitors; this vibrant new approach offers a great new platform to engage with Harewood and celebrate our unique craft heritage and why it matters to society today.”

Sam Walton, Creative Director, Hole & Corner; “We’re very excited to be heading to Harewood this July. This year marks the sixth year of Hole & Corner and over that time we’ve written about and collaborated with some brilliantly talented people. For Make It Harewood we’ve invited some of our favourite makers to join us in delivering what we feel will be a really special weekend of activity.

As well as opportunities to get involved with making, we promise a relaxed and enjoyable weekend with great food and drink, good music and a fun atmosphere.”

On Saturday 6 July, the House and gardens will remain open until 9pm, with live DJs and evening entertainment and pop-up bar in The Courtyard. A craft market also runs across the whole weekend.

Confirmed makers for workshops include:

– Aardman Studio (Model-making)
– Andy Singleton (Paper art)
– Claire Wellesley Smith (Stitching)
– Lola Lely (Natural dying)
– Leszek Sikon (Blacksmithing)
– Pottery West (Ceramics)
– Reiko Kaneko (Kintsugi)
– Smith Automata (Do Nothing Machines)
– Sunken Studio (Ceramics)
– Anna Casserly (Spoon Carving)

Make It will take place annually for the next three years, creating a weekend experience which focuses on creativity, craftsmanship, heritage and authenticity and which is fresh and different to anything else on offer in Yorkshire.

For further information follow @HarewoodHouse on social media and see biennial.harewood.org

Ever wanted to try your hand at weaving, or get the opportunity to have a go at blacksmithing for yourself…?

Over the past few years, Harewood has been gradually establishing its workshop programme, working with exceptional individuals who are leaders in their fields, to create some really interesting and one-off workshops here at Harewood.

From yoga on the Terrace last year, to a full programme of events this spring and summer that complement Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters, the general theme in the House and across the whole site.

Our workshops are tailored to small groups, are not readily available anywhere else in the vicinity and are enhanced by access to behind the scenes in the House and the new exhibition. And there are refreshments, often lunch. This season the workshops are led by artists and makers from Useful/Beautiful.

PAPER SCULPTING WITH ANDY SINGLETON – 11 May
Wakefield-based paper artist Andy Singleton is acclaimed for his paper sculptures, two of which can be seen hanging in the Library. Participants will explore the potential of paper cutting and get to create their own unique sculptural forms.

FRAME WEAVING WORKSHOP FROM WASTE WITH MARIA SIGMA – 18 May
Driven by a ‘zero waste’ approach to textile design, Maria Sigma has become a rising star in the world of weaving. Take your discarded but still loved textiles, including t-shirts and pillow cases, and make them into something new…

WORKING WITH FINE BONE CHINA: A WORKSHOP WITH REIKO KANEKO – 1 June
Reiko Kaneko was born and raised in Japan, and the cultural heritage of her upbringing plays a formative part in her ceramics. Join Reiko for an introduction to the whole process of making, decorating and glazing fine bone china.

INTRODUCTION TO BLACKSMITHING WITH LESZEK SIKON – 8 June, 2 workshops
The perfect Father’s Day gift – an exclusive opportunity to work with artisan blacksmith Leszek Sikon for an introduction to blacksmithing, learning basic blacksmithing techniques, making a bottle opener, key leaf chain or Viking style utility knife.

CAST GLASS JEWELLERY WITH EFFIE BURNS – 14 July
Effie creates miniature landscapes of glass objects cast from vegetables. Join Whitby-based artist Effie for an intimate workshop to learn the craft of cast glass jewellery making. This workshop gives a rare chance to work in miniature and create your own cast glass jewellery.

CREATIVE PLAY: UNLIMITED SOURCE OF NEW IDEAS WITH JULI BOLANOS-DURMAN – 21 July
Join vibrant artist Juli Bolaños-Durman for an innovative and creative day, exploring play and its links to creativity. Costa Rican-born, Edinburgh-based Juli works with found glass and other objects, playfully creating fascinating characters and pieces.

USEFUL/BEAUTIFUL TWILIGHT TOURS
18 April / 9 May / 13 June / 18 July
6.30-8.30pm
Join us for an exclusive out of hours tour of Harewood’s acclaimed new exhibition, Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters.

Full details of the programme of events and workshops can be found on biennial.harewood.org

The next big hit might just be inspired from Harewood, as the energetic and popular Leeds-based rock band Hope & Social move in for a four-week writing and recording residency whilst the House and gardens get ready to open to the public at the end of March.

The Volunteer Bookshop at Terrace Cottage in the grounds of Harewood House is their base, since they posted a call-out on Twitter for a venue in which to write their sixth album. Harewood House Director Jane Marriott quickly responded with an invitation to visit.

The six-piece band, who define themselves as ‘Trying to change the world by making noise, being late and dancing like we mean it’ are well-known for their animated approach to music making and performance.

Jane said, “I’ve seen Hope & Social play several times and wanted to find a great way to work together, having been captivated by their energy and spirit. They are always in such demand, that I’m delighted we’ve finally found a way to make it work.
“Harewood has a strong association with music and also a commitment to working with great artists and whilst we had the space, we just thought having them on site would be great fun. For us and for them.”

“What an opportunity.” said James Hamilton from Hope & Social. “Harewood is such an amazing location and we now have plenty of room to be totally creative and make lots of noise. And we don’t even have to worry about the neighbours.”

As a thank-you to the charity, the band will perform live and take part in music workshops across several dates during the open season, with their first performance for visitors in The Courtyard on Mother’s Day on Sunday 31 March, to coincide with the launch weekend for Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters.

For further information follow us @HarewoodHouse on social media.