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Venice Biennale: Dorset Pavilion artists in preview exhibition

BBC Sophie Molins sitting at a desk surrounded by framed artworks, photos and newspaper clippings and holding a book containing cut-out imagesBBC
Pavilion curator Sophie Molins said she was using the Biennale to showcase the creativity of the county

Works from 14 artists are to feature at the Venice Biennale in a showcase of Dorset creativity.

The Dorset Pavilion is being curated by Bridport artist Sophie Molins who has also been creating her own glass works to go on display in the Italian city.

The pavilion will be part of the Biennale's fringe festival in September and October.

A preview of the exhibition will be on display in Bridport for two weeks from Monday.

Other featured artists include painter Ella Squirrell, printmaker and ceramicist Jacy Wall, and Edmund Hall - who is known for creating the banners for the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival.

Sophie Molins Detail of clear glass sculpture containing bubbles and twisted glass tubes finished with white star-shaped finialsSophie Molins
Sophie Molins said her works were inspired by Roman amulets found near Beaminster

Ms Molins said the pavilion demonstrated that art "doesn't always have to gravitate towards the national and the urban".

She said: "The work - marching banners, paintings, ceramics, prints, drawings and photographs - are a locus by which to champion the local, the small and the communal and a myriad of political situations."

Dorset Art Weeks co-ordinator Paul Newman said: "It's a great chance to have the county's creatives represented internationally.

"We hope it will encourage more visitors to come here to see the range of art we have on offer and put us on the map."

Paul Newman standing next to a framed landscape painting
Artist Paul Newman said he hoped the Biennale would raise the profile of Dorset artists

The Venice Biennale is an international cultural exhibition which has been hosted annually since 1895, alternating each year between art and architecture.

Dorset Art Weeks, which starts on Saturday, features 500 artists across 250 venues, including a clifftop nature reserve, garden sheds, a historic house, barns and a brewery.

Some of the Dorset Pavilion works can be seen at the Priority Shed in Priory Lane, Bridport, from 27 May to 9 June.

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