Pigs Bladder Football \ John O’Shea (2011)

Pigs Bladder Football was a year long programme of artistic enquiry aiming to reconnect us with traditional craft and lost knowledge. The project took place in the North West, an appropriate setting given its industrial heritage and passion for sport, with people all over the region being invited to help explore the medieval origins of our national game. Cutting edge scientific processes were integrated along the way, which culminated at AND Festival 2012 in the cultivation of a uniquely captivating sculptural object; a football grown from living cells.

A first for the 21st century, a game of football using a pig’s bladder took place at Egremont Crab and Sports Fair on Saturday 17 September, kickoff 3.15pm.

Pigs Bladder Football was commissioned by AND, and made possible through the Wellcome Trust Arts Award scheme. In collaboration with Professor John Hunt at University of Liverpool’s Clinical Engineering Research Unit.