The view from the windows of our homes might seem more familiar than ever, but on closer inspection, there is much more to see in the trees and the skies. Over the past year, there has been a widespread re-engagement with nature—and in particular, the public’s appreciation of Britain’s native birds. And Fledge celebrates this.

Taking place from 1 – 23 May 2021, at Contemporary Six (lockdown-permitting) and online, Fledge: a year of birds is a multidisciplinary exhibition featuring the artwork of five artists: Mary Griffiths, Susan Platt, Liam Spencer, Clare Bigger, and Ann Lewis. Each of the artists has responded to the birds in their close environments and in Britain’s changing urban areas. Whether the medium is watercolours, oils, or steel, birds have proved a welcome escape for this group of artists—as well as a great source of inspiration.

Adam O’Riordan, Reader in Contemporary Poetry and Fiction at the Manchester Writing School and singer-songwriter Guy Garvey, exchanged a series of pen portraits of birds during the first lockdown in the spring of 2020. Susan Platt illustrated the birds that informed their writing and extracts from their ongoing collaboration will accompany the artworks in the show.

Birds symbolise many things from the everyday to the profound: a sense of freedom, possibility, change, perspective; the light embrace and colour of springtime; the tentative synergy that human beings maintain with our natural surroundings.