Follow Sidney Nolan through Africa and experience contemporary craft in Rodd Court as The Rodd welcomes visitors for the 2025 season.
The Sidney Nolan Trust will open The Rodd near, Presteigne from Wednesday 2 April 2025.
A rural centre for the arts, founded by the famous Australian artist Sir Sidney Nolan (1917 – 1992), visitors can discover inspiring encounters with arts, heritage and environment in the beautiful setting of 17th century Rodd Court, gardens and grounds.
The 2025 season launches with two new exhibitions, Nolan’s Africa and Utility to Futility. For the first time this year, visitors can purchase a season ticket with 12 months’ validity to enjoy repeat visits and new exhibitions from July.
Nolan’s Africa (2 April – 28 June)
In 1962, Sidney Nolan travelled through Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. On this journey through East Africa, the artist studied lions, elephants and giraffes in the Serengeti and arduously tracked mountain gorillas in the Congo. He met ethnic tribal groups and watched labourers toiling in the fields before arriving in the ancient city of Harar, once home of his childhood hero, French surrealist poet Arthur Rimbaud.
The paintings inspired by this journey are however far more than representations of exotic animals, people and landscapes. His January 1962 Auschwitz experience loomed large, and in Africa, he associated the wanton slaughter of wildlife, destruction of habitat and geopolitical power struggles with Europe’s recent genocide. The African Journey paintings tackle themes of conflict, animal extinction and the impact of colonialism.
Utility to Futility (2 April – 5 July)
Utility to Futility explores how the form and materiality of objects can stretch and challenge our understanding of value and function.
Artists Sacha Delabre and Axelle Mary, who specialise in blown glass, have collaborated with furniture maker Bim Burton and artist-metalworker Izzi Lombardo to create improbable and exquisite objects specifically in response to the unique domestic space of Rodd Court. By transforming everyday items into absurd artefacts the artists invite us to reflect on the values we assign to the things we surround ourselves with.
Antony Mottershead, the Sidney Nolan Trust’s Curator and Creative Producer commented;
“It’s a pleasure to invite visitors back to The Rodd for another fantastic season of exhibitions, events and workshops.
Nolan’s Africa tells the amazing backstory of a group of paintings that were once famous but are now largely forgotten. The exhibition places viewers at the heart of mid-century British painting and Nolan’s exploration of themes including conflict, animal extinction and the impacts of colonialism.
Utility to Futility is our first presentation of contemporary craft in Rodd Court. The artists are excited to create a site-specific response to Nolan’s former home and we are equally excited by the interplay between materiality of the objects and this important heritage building.”