Time is of the Essence: Show Windows

Featured at Forbidden Planet on the Burges, ‘Time is of the Essence’ by Rachel Taylor has given a nod to Coventry’s watch-making history as well as depicting the city’s shared experience of lockdown. The piece is made from 100 per cent recycled material collected through the pandemic.

The three artworks in the High Street Heritage Action Zone of the Burges and Hales Street are part of the Show Windows, an ambitious series of unique shopfront commissions co-produced by Coventry City of Culture Trust and Coventry Business Improvement District in partnership with the Coventry River Cultural Consortium.

Three artists were commissioned to animate windows on the Burges and Hales Street on the theme of Green Futures – creating portals to other worlds to inspire imagination, adventure and hope.

The artist

Rachel Ella Taylor studied at Coventry University as an undergraduate and has gone on to work with Turner Contemporary, Margate, The Royal Botanical Kew Gardens and the large-scale installation ‘Peace in Perpetuity’ in The Botanist, Coventry. Her installation is full of symbolism representing hope, optimism, looking to the future, embracing the moment and fully and confidently perusing life. Instagram: Ephemeral_Rachella

Show Windows

The three recently installed Show Windows on the Burges and Hales Street is the first project of the three-year High Street Heritage Action Zone cultural programme funded by Historic England, in partnership with Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund and delivered by the Coventry River Cultural Consortium led by Coventry University. The Coventry River Cultural Consortium is a collaboration between Historic Coventry Trust, Coventry City Council, Coventry BID, Coventry City of Culture Trust, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Open Theatre, the Coventry Society and Coventry University.

It builds on the award-winning recent restoration of the buildings by Historic Coventry Trust in collaboration with Coventry BID and Coventry City Council as the national demonstrator project for Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zone programme. The cultural programme aims to make high streets more attractive and engaging places for people to live, work and spend time.