Actress Suranne Jones, and celebrated artist-filmmaker Rosa Barba, were today announced as our new patrons.
Joining our fellow patrons Danny Boyle, Phil Collins, Nicholas Hytner, Asif Kapadia and Jackie Kay, they will be supporting our exciting new cultural venture to raise its profile nationally and internationally.
Suranne Jones rose to fame as Karen McDonald in Coronation Street, and her credits range from the lead role in Orlando at the Royal Exchange, to the humanoid incarnation of the Tardis in Doctor Who. Theatre credits include Blithe Spirit at the Royal Exchange, Sandra in Beautiful Thing at the Arts Theatre, and Top Girls at Chichester and then the West End. She has won many awards, including the Theatregoers’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in A Few Good Men at the Theatre Royal Haymarket with Rob Lowe, and a Royal Television Society Award for Best Performance in a Drama for Scott & Bailey.
Celebrated artist Rosa Barba lives and works in Berlin. Barba’s installations explore the material properties of film as well as probing the structure of cinematic narratives and its relationship to memory. In 2013 she presented Subject to Constant Change, a major solo exhibition at Cornerhouse.
Other recent solo shows include: Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2013; Bergen Kunsthall, Norway, 2013; MUSAC, Castilla y Leon, Spain, 2013, Jeu de Paume, Paris, 2012. She has participated in group shows at MAXXI Museum, Rome; Akademie der Künste, Berlin; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; La Cinémathèque Française, Paris; WIELS, Brussels; Museo Nacional Centro de International Triennial of New Media Art 2014, Beijing, China; 19th Biennale of Sydney; International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; Liverpool Biennale; 52nd and 53rd Venice Biennale.
“I am thrilled to be part of this new venture,” says Suranne, “which I hope will bring to even wider attention the talent and creative energy that exists in the North West. I began my career in Oldham under a great youth theatre, moving on to work in Manchester with local theatre companies, Granada Television and the BBC amongst others, then on to performing at the Royal Exchange. I’m particularly excited about the work HOME will do with young people and emerging directors, opening up careers and opportunities for expression to the wider community.”
“I’m delighted that Suranne and Rosa have agreed to be patrons of HOME,” says Dave Moutrey, our Chief Executive. “Suranne’s career, supported by the healthy arts ecology in the North West, has shown her to be versatile and gifted, winning her national and international acclaim. Rosa’s support follows the huge success of her 2013 exhibition at Cornerhouse, and I know having the advocacy of an artist of her international standing will be invaluable for the film and visual art programmes at HOME.”
Want more information on our other patrons? Between them, they bring a wealth of visual art, performance, theatre and film expertise to the organisation.