Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak and yesterday the gallery announced that they have now installed a webcam to provide a live stream of a particular location in the Kettle’s Yard House to viewers. The house and gallery have been closed since 17th March 2020 in order to protect the health and wellbeing of staff, volunteers and visitors.

In response to the current situation Kettle’s Yard invite you on a virtual visit – with the webcam allowing you to watch in real-time for the duration of the gallery’s closure. The webcam is situated on the first floor of the cottages, in the area known as the ‘bridge’. The live stream, which is being broadcast everyday from 5.30am until 8.30pm, can be accessed via the gallery’s website here.

The idea for the webcam was suggested by a member of the public @joolsburke on Instagram, they said: “Kettle’s Yard is a magical place and being able to sit in a quiet corner and see the light change in the room is something I’ve loved for years. Being able to see this online is brilliant, and a reminder of what we hope to get back to before too long.”

Kettle’s Yard says: “Our values reflect Kettle’s Yard’s creator Jim Ede’s support for artists and belief in art’s power to make us look again and change how we act in the world.”

The bridge is where Jim Ede created a small conservatory filled with plants, spherical glass fishing floats, pebbles, shells and artworks. In the sitting room adjacent to the bridge, Ede also installed a spiral staircase illuminated by a double-height window. This part of the House is both shadowy and light-filled, enabling virtual visitors to trace the light changes throughout the day.

The wide-angled shot takes in a number of artworks and objects, including Gregorio Vardanega’s suspended Perspex Disc, which refracts light and rotates with subtle movements of the air, as well as his smaller Spherical Construction, nestled among the plants in the top right corner.

To the left is a tall pot by William Staite Murray, called The Heron, and a small still-life by Ben Nicholson, titled 1944 (Mugs). Visible in the sitting room beyond is an ancient amphora, bought in the Sahara desert when Ede was living in Tangier, and a Japanese silk lantern.

In certain light levels it will also be possible to see two new glass works by Linder Sterling that were installed as part of the exhibition Linderism, which opened at Kettle’s Yard on 15th February 2020.

Kettle’s Yard also have an online tour which you can access here. Be sure to give the gallery a shout-out on social media and help to spread the word about their new #KettlesYardAtHome initiative!

Keep up-to-date with what is happening across Cambridgeshire’s creative scene by subscribing to receive our latest news posts via email – and follow our #CambsCreativeScene tag on Instagram.

If you enjoy content from The Trove Cambridge then please consider supporting what we do by buying us a “coffee” at: ko-fi.com/thetrovecambridge