Culloden Estate + Spa Cultra County Down + Art + Soul Art + Sculpture Fair

Across the Water

In the land of champ and Portavogie scampi and pasties (Ulster not Cornish) and soda farls and wheaten bread and dulse and Tayto crisps and fifteens and rocky roads and yellowman there’s something new and exciting to go and explore for a wee dander. The original house at the heart of the Culloden Estate – the Bishop’s Palace – may be 145 years old but Art and Soul, the Holywood International Art and Sculpture Fair filling its grounds and interiors, is very much a meantime use.

Dr Howard Hastings, Managing Director of Hastings Hotels, explains “At Hastings Hotels, I believe that we can distinguish from our competitors by highlighting the local culture and heritage surrounding our hotels. One way we do this is by focussing on our own locally grown produce in our menus. At Culloden Estate and Spa, another way we achieve this is through the artwork on display throughout the hotel. Some of these paintings were acquired by my father, Sir William Hastings. He selected paintings he liked and which he thought were in keeping with the Bishop’s Palace setting. More recently we’ve concentrated on supporting our local artists, many of whom have international reputations, yet still live and work in Northern Ireland.”

For just three weeks this summer, the five star hotel is brimming over with the work of sculptors Paddy Campbell and Orla de Bri, textile artist Karen Fleming, oil painters Gladys Maccabe and Tracey Quinn, watercolourists Neil Shawcross and Catherine Thompson, and lots more. There are also fine art prints by a certain Andy Warhol. These new arrivals will complement the Culloden Estate’s impressive permanent collection. Upon arrival, visitors are greeted by 125 sculptures gracing the law with six figure prices for the bigger pieces. Organised by Gormley’s Fine Art, the exhibition is the largest of its kind in Ireland. There’s always refreshment time too for sipping a wee Bushmills whiskey or West Coast Cooler or C+C brown lemonade in the Culloden Estate’s Cultra Inn.