Exhibition inspired by Milton Keynes’ built environment at Westbury Arts Centre

A free exhibition entitled ‘Lines of Imagination’, inspired by the landmarks, built environment and architecture of Milton Keynes and beyond, will be held at Westbury Arts Centre 7 to 15 September 2024, as part of the Heritage Open Days festival.

This is the first solo exhibition of artist, Farina Noorani, who has a studio at Westbury Arts Centre, and it is the first time that these works, which were specially created for this exhibition, have been displayed.

The works draw on Farina’s passions for art, architecture and photography. She says of her exhibition: “My aim was to show as many different architectural landmarks of Milton Keynes as possible.

“The more I looked around, the more I realized how rich Milton Keynes is architecturally and historically. Although it is famous for its grids and roundabouts, Milton Keynes has a very rich historic legacy. Before construction began, every area was subject to detailed archaeological investigation, which provided an unprecedented insight into its history. There is evidence of settlements from the Stone Age up to the late Industrial Revolution with the railway towns of Wolverton and Bletchley.

“I called my exhibition ‘Lines of Imagination’ to embrace both my artistic language, and the idea of the birth of Milton Keynes. The City was designed on an area that was largely farmland and undeveloped villages and was like a clear canvas. Architecture too, in most cases starts on a blank site and from the imaginary lines of their designers. My artworks explore the same idea and I draw lines and extensions from the already existing forms and aim to share a different perspective of the same spatial form.”

Born in Pakistan, Farina graduated as an architect in Karachi and moved to UK in 2005 where she obtained a Masters in Art History from the Open University. She has been creating art since then and took it up full time during the Covid 19 Pandemic. Her work ‘Shah Jahan Mosque’ was selected by Sir Grayson Perry for his Art Club – a Channel 4 TV show hosted from Perry’s studio during the 2022 lockdown. The painting was subsequently displayed in a national exhibition in Birmingham.