Middle Bound: ‘Exploring the Social Fabric at the Heart of England’ is a new site-specific installation by the artist Patrick Waterhouse and the graphic designer Tim Wan with the support of curator Mauro Bedoni, involving local artists and stories from the public into a narrative display.

From 5th-9th February, QUAD Gallery became a workshop and open studio, made accessible to the public, where artistic and creative work could be viewed as it happened with the goal of developing, conceptualising and building an exhibition. Artists, designers, photographers and members of the community have been selected through an open call and they explored questions like: What are the communities that make The Midlands what it is today, and how they relate to each other? What are the stories we tell? How does ethnicity and heritage affect attitudes?

The result shows interlinking narratives that display the passage of time by the overlaying of images and weaves together the people, places and things that bind the Midlands together. The exhibition takes on all aspects of life: cultural diversity of life today, the industry and leisure of the Midlands, rural and urban life, dwells into family, personal history of people and their archives.

It tackles themes of community, heritage, family, diversity, local history and industry.

The Participants – including artists, designers, photographers and members of the community – are: Farhad Berahman, Daniela Bayfield, Rica Cerbarano, Attilio Fiumarella, Shirley Hitchcock, Lynne Hollingsworth, Jessica Hollinshead, Tim Kay, Sally Kesterton, Fanni Kopácsi, Patricia Nimmo, Tristan Poyser, Richard Richards, David Severn, Tim Shore and Thomas Tierney.