Our Marian brings together newly commissioned artworks and community responses that consider the figure of Maid Marian through a contemporary lens.

Developed alongside the creation of Alicja Biała's new public sculpture for Maid Marian Way in Nottingham, the exhibition explores how folklore can be reimagined and carried into the present. Rather than approaching Maid Marian as a fixed historical figure, Our Marian understands her as a site of possibility: a character continually shaped through storytelling and collective memory.

At the centre of the exhibition are two bronze sculptures by Alicja Biała, Hyperaccumulator VI (2025) and Hyperaccumulator VII (2025). Created through Biała's ongoing exploration of ecology, foraging and botanical forms, these works share a material and conceptual relationship with her newly commissioned public sculpture for Maid Marian Way. Together, they foreground bronze not simply as a historic medium, but as a material through which environmental and cultural narratives are preserved, transformed and reimagined.

Presented alongside Biała's work are four newly commissioned artworks by BACKLIT's feminist collective, Lumina. Bringing together Rocky Mol, Lucy Nelson, and Wingshan whose practices engage with mythology, language, craft, embodiment and care, these new commissions draw connections between medieval histories and contemporary experience, considering how inherited narratives might be questioned, expanded and preserved.

The exhibition also presents Dominique Golden's Julian of Norwich, an experimental clay stop-motion animation that explores the writings and visions of the medieval mystic. Revisiting themes of feminine spirituality, devotion and transformation, the work offers an important historical dialogue between Julian of Norwich and the evolving mythology of Maid Marian, tracing the enduring influence of medieval women on contemporary feminist thought.

The exhibition is accompanied by outcomes from a series of public workshops exploring medieval making traditions. Through collective processes and shared knowledge, participants have developed new interpretations of historical forms, extending the exhibition beyond the gallery and into the wider community.

Across sculpture, text, and moving image, Our Marian asks what it means to return to familiar stories and to imagine them otherwise.

Curated by Jazz Singh Swali.

This exhibition has been supported by Nottingham City Council, UK Shared Prosperity Fund and It's in Nottingham.

Exhibition Preview (booking required):

Date: Friday 17 July 18:00 – 20:00
RSVP: Click here to RSVP on Eventbrite

Exhibition Continues:

Dates: 18 July – 08 August
Days: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Times: 12:00 – 16:00
No need to book

Location:

Main Gallery, Second Floor
BACKLIT, Alfred House, Ashley Street, Nottingham, NG3 1JG

Click here for directions and information on access. If you have any questions on access, please email [email protected]. We will be happy to help.