Public Artist
Helen Marriage is Director of Artichoke, one of the UK’s most innovative creative companies. Founded in 2006, the company’s presentation of Royal de Luxe’s The Sultan’s Elephant in the heart of central London set a benchmark for large-scale spectacles that invade public space and reinvent the notion of a city’s landscape.
In 2009 Artichoke began its landmark Lumiere series in Durham with events following in Derry~Londonderry and London. Artichoke has worked in Northern Ireland with Deborah Warner/Fiona Shaw’s Peace Camp as well as creating Temple in Derry in 2015. The following year saw Great Fire 350, a commemoration of the events of 1666 commissioned by the City of London. In 2018, Artichoke masterminded PROCESSIONS, a celebration of 100 years since the vote was first gained by women in the UK commissioned by 1418 Now. In 2019 she was appointed Creative Director of Galway 2020, European Capital of Culture.
Helen’s interests have always centred on the conjunction of art, civic disruption, public engagement and the transformation of daily life. In 2012, she was awarded a prestigious Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard in recognition of her ongoing work with urban life. She was awarded an MBE for services to the arts in 2016. She is an Area Council member for Arts Council England in London.
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