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There are over 900 stone circles known in the British Isles, 14 of which are in the care of English Heritage – including surely the most famous: Stonehenge. This site is currently home to an innovative exhibition showcasing the work of three emerging artists, all aged under 25, who have used photography to reinterpret prehistoric monuments and explore their modern relevance.
Created as part of Shout Out Loud, English Heritage’s Youth Engagement Programme, in partnership with the national arts charity Photoworks (as part of their 30th anniversary year programme), Echoes: Stone Circles, Community and Heritage is the first major exhibition of new photography to be held at Stonehenge. Its focus is not the Salisbury Plain icon, however, but three less well-known monuments in Dorset and Derbyshire, which serve as springboards to explore deeper themes of belonging, identity, spirituality, and shared experiences.
At the outset of the project, the featured artists – Sally Barton, Serena Burgis, and Yuxi Hou – were free to select any of the more-than 250 free-to-visit English Heritage sites for their work. All were drawn to stone circles. When I spoke to them at the exhibition launch, each gave similar reasons for this choice, describing how local landscapes had gained new significance during COVID-19 restrictions, and how the challenges of recent years sparked a revival of interest in folk traditions and their political, aesthetic, and environmental importance. In contrast to sites like castles, which to them represent hierarchy, control, and a display of status and wealth, the artists were more interested in ideas of coming together, connecting with the environment, alternatives to organised religion, and the way in which more enigmatic sites offer space to imagine their own stories.
Each artist was also asked to include ideas of ‘community’ in their work, bringing local groups to their chosen site and examining how their own perspectives shaped how they experienced the monument. Yuxi Hou, born in Beijing and now based in Nottingham, is particularly interested in migration and identity, and views stone circles as a symbol of shared human experiences that can bring different people together. At Arbor Low in Derbyshire, she worked with local pagan groups, sharing their meditations and celebrations, and capturing their interactions with the stones.
Ideas of identity are key to Serena Burgis’ contributions, too. As a woman of British-Thai heritage, she was keen to explore her relationship with Englishness and questions of being and belonging. At Kingston Russell in Dorset, close to where Serena grew up, she shared picnics and oral histories with the local Thai community, bringing both aspects of her family history together.
Meanwhile, Sally Barton delved deeply into the folkloric associations of the Nine Ladies in Derbyshire, examining modern ideas of ritual and connections with local heritage with children from primary schools.
This atmospheric exhibition offers a contemplative space, inviting visitors to consider what stone circles mean to them, and why these sites have held such resonance for thousands of years.
Further information: The exhibition will run until 7 September 2025; for more details, see http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge.
Images: Serena Burgis; Yuxi Hou
