Artistic reflections at Lent

Angela Wright's '40 Days' installation, seen here on display in Sydney, is coming to Southwark Cathedral this Lent

Southwark Cathedral will once again play host to thought-provoking art installations during the period of Lent.

The cathedral has exhibited highly acclaimed works of art during Lent in the last two years. In 2012, it displayed 'Die Harder' by David Mach, and last year 'Christ Rests in Peace' by Nic Fiddian-Green.

This Lent, there will be two installations on display by local artists Edmund de Waal and Angela Wright.

'Another Hour' by Edmund de Waal comprises 12 free-standing vitrines positioned in a serpentine line in the retrochoir at the east end of the cathedral.

Each of the vitrines is nearly 7ft tall and holds a single white porcelain vessel.

De Waal says he wants the piece to make people "pause, to stand still and listen in this vast building, to contemplate the changing light and shadow of the space and to reflect on a thousand years of liturgy".

Edmund de Waal's piece, 'Another Hour'

Wright's piece, '40 Days', it is made from spun wool and will drop some 50ft from the East window of the cathedral, covering the altar screen.

"Visitors will look up at its mass and the spillage of its myriad wavy strands tumbling down to the stone floor. Its colour, smell and softness will engage with the senses," she said of the work.

The Dean of Southwark, the Very Reverend Andrew Nunn, said: "We are delighted that we will have two art works 'Another Hour' and '40 Days' to accompany our journey from Lent to Holy Week and Easter.

"These events in the life of Jesus are lived almost in real time by the Christian community and especially in the final week before Easter.

"The encounter with the Living God is both in time and eternity and both of these works will help us to enter more deeply into this mystery and reality."

Both artists will be giving free talks on their work, Wright on 16 March, and de Waal on 23 March.