By Meg Jorsh

Last updated at 12:59, Wednesday, 12 May 2010

A Carlisle artist has launched an exhibition aimed at lifting the 500-year-old “curse” laid on the city.

The Bishop's Cursing Stone

Lindsay McWilliams, 21, of Scotch Street, has explored the myth surrounding the cursing stone installed at Tullie House Museum in 2001.

Blamed for misfortunes including the 2005 Carlisle floods, it is inscribed with a curse from a 16th-century Archbishop of Glasgow.

The new exhibition, called Uncursed, was produced as part of Lindsay’s final project for her degree in photography at the University of Cumbria.

She said: “I wanted to do something I really cared about for my last major project, so I was doing some research into the City of Culture bid. One of the things that came up was the way people like to blame everything on the cursing stone.

“A lot of the cultural venues in Carlisle have fallen into disrepair or aren’t being used properly, so I thought I could do something around that.”

Her photographs of Carlisle cultural landmarks were all taken at around five o’clock in the morning, to keep light levels consistently low. Behind each one, she has layered an image of words from the cursing stone, altered to give them the opposite meaning.

She added: “A lot of people, particularly people my age, are always complaining about how they don’t like Carlisle. They don’t stop to appreciate how beautiful the buildings are and it’s something I find quite difficult to stomach.”

As one of the founders of clothing company Pimpfish, Lindsay is keen to defend Carlisle’s creative community. She moved to the city three years ago from Northumberland and now plans to settle here with her partner.

“My favourite pictures are the ones of the castle and the old Lonsdale cinema,” she said. “They’re just some of my favourite buildings. I had to go out at five o’clock in the morning to take them, so it’s really nice to see them on display.”

So what curses imposed by the stone may be lifted?

The original curse was comprehensive, cursing every aspect of the reivers' life and body, when they were asleep, awake, walking, and drinking. It curses their wives, children, and servants as well as their land, homes, livestock, cabbage patches and ploughs.

Uncursed will be on display in the restaurant at Hooper’s, Castle Street, until August.

First published at 11:31, Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk