Tingwall Kirk set to become a centre of photography
TINGWALL Kirk is set to get a new lease of life, and it will not be a religious one.
If plans by new owner Farika Holden come to fruition, the kirk could become an assembly place to host exhibitions, photo book launches, artist talks, workshops and artist residencies.
Describing herself as “someone who brings people together”, and “who definitely is not mainstream”, the 59 year old is also the owner of Photobook Café and a partner in a popular gay pub in London.
Photobook Cafe operates as a not-for-profit organisation supporting photography, publishing, education and community engagement.
It also hosts the largest collection of self-published photography books in Europe, and Holden said she feels Tingwall Kirk could be the right place to complement and replicate such a venture.
Speaking to Shetland News this week, she said once she had seen Tingwall Kirk for herself, she felt “it did fit perfectly to all things I am doing here in London”.
“What a great place for an artist residence, a second book collection, where people can research and study,” she said.
She said she was still in the process of figuring out what exactly to do with the building but added that she didn’t want to lose the momentum and confirmed that “something will happen this year”.
Holden and her Tingwall project’s founding curator Danillo have already contacted UHI Shetland about possible projects, she said.
It would not be the first of Shetland’s discarded kirks that would be turned into a cultural community centre, though the approach here is different.
The Bigton Kirk has been turned into the successful Hymhus venture run by a community collective, while the Lunna Kirk and the Whalsay Kirk have also been transferred into community ventures.
Holden bought Tingwall Kirk unseen in an auction in October last year for £35,000 after it already had changed ownership several times since the Church of Scotland put the B-listed kirk up for sale in July 2022, with an asking price of £55,000.
Described as “the mother church of Shetland”, the site is steeped in history. The building itself was built around 1790 and has an internal floor area of around 200 square metres.
The surrounding graveyard is owned and maintained by Shetland Islands Council and is separate to the property. There is, however, a small area of ground to the rear of the church included in the sale.
Holden, who originates from Canada, was able to see her new property in January for the first time when she visited Shetland to also take in the Lerwick Up Helly Aa.
“I am overwhelmed; it feels that I am supposed to be there on so many levels. I just loved it and felt really good there,” she described of her feelings.
And, eerily, it turns out that her family originally emigrated from Iceland to Canada a long time ago, coming from Thingvellir – which shares the same Old Norse root as Tingwall.
“The connection is just surreal,” she said. “My family is going full circle, and everything feels right and is coming together.”
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