Life gets more exciting when you say yes, according to a recent advertising campaign for an international bank.

What if that wasn't true?

This was the question art writer Jan Verwoert asked when he visited Sheffield two years ago.

The critic was commissioned to write an essay by Sheffield Contemporary Art Forum (SCAF).

Led by Jeanine Griffin, SCAF commissioned Berlin-based Verwoert to write the essay which would provide the foundation for a city-wide celebration of contemporary art.

The essay was the nucleus for Yes, No, Other Options, the contemporary art festival from which it is impossible to currently escape when in Sheffield.

At every turn there is a piece of contemporary art. Head anywhere near the cultural areas of the city and you can't help but be struck by the works all around you.

Yes, No, Other Options is the name of Art Sheffield 08, which runs until the end of March. It is the fourth such festival the city has staged, and Griffin, curator of Site Gallery, has been involved since the festival's inception.

Last year, the festival drew 45,000 people into the city over a four-week period. This year's celebration goes on for six weeks and the indications are that already the visitor numbers may have exceeded last year's total – and the festival is only in its second week.

"This is the first time that the Millennium Galleries have also been involved, which has made the festival bigger and more prominent than before," says Griffin.

"There is a real feel this year that the whole city is involved."

The roots of the festival began when Griffin moved to Sheffield from Edinburgh, where she had worked in galleries. She found that
in Scotland there was a greater cohesion and communication between galleries than she found in the Steel City.

"In Edinburgh, people would come from Glasgow for openings and there was communication between the galleries so that opening nights were co-ordinated and it meant that there were lots of artists around the city at the same time.

"When I moved to Sheffield, I thought the city would benefit from a more cohesive attitude."

To help make this happen, Griffin set up SCAF which in 2001 staged the first contemporary art festival in the city.

A total of 38 artists have submitted work for this year's festival, with Sheffield well represented, but also internationally renowned artists in a group which includes Turner Prize winners and nominees.

Two years ago, SCAF, which is made up of four of the contemporary art galleries in Sheffield, the Millennium Galleries and the university, invited Verwoert to come to the city.

"We knew his work from international art magazines, and asked him to come to Sheffield to write an essay on the city," says Griffin.

Verwoert spent time with artists and was shown around the city.

His article, while specifically about the Steel City, was representative of other cities where old industries have been replaced by service industries.

He writes about the move towards the "can do culture" where the service industry dominates and the motto is to say yes to everything.

He challenged that notion to explore what happens if people consider that as well as saying yes, there is also the option to say no or consider other options.

This inspired work by artists such as Sheffield-based Tim Etchells whose neon sign displayed in the window of the entrance to Millennium Galleries instructs visitors to the city to "Wait Here I have Gone to Get Help".

The members of SCAF came together to thrash out a list of the artists, local, national and international, they wanted to work with for the festival.

When the final list had been drawn up, the artists were approached and all agreed to take part in the event.

As well as existing works, the funding for the festival, from a number of sources including the Arts Council, the Esmée Fairburn Foundation and local funding, paid for several new commissions.

The result is an eclectic range of work which is currently being enjoyed by visitors flooding into the city to see it exhibited in eight different spaces around the city centre.

"Many of the artists involved are already producing work in the city, but by bringing it together in this one concentrated period, in a concentrated area, it means people come into Sheffield to see all the work together," says Griffin.

For the last festival, held two years ago, 22 per cent of the 45,000 people who visited the exhibition came from outside the city.

"We have visitors from across Europe who come to see the exhibitions," adds Griffin.

Launched earlier this month, the opening night of the festival saw a new commission of Annika Eriksson for which she lit up the façade of the Park Hill housing estate, the flats which look down over the city.

"It looked spectacular," says Griffin.

"It was a great way to start the festival and the visitor numbers we are seeing at the exhibitions are really encouraging for the future."


Yes, No, other options venues

Millennium Galleries

S1 Artspace, Milton Street

Sylvester Space, Arundel Street

Bloc, Arundel Street

Yorkshire artspace, Brown Street

Site Gallery, Paternoster Row

Showroom Cinema, Paternoster Row

End Gallery – Bus Stop on Paternoster Row



The website also has a downloadable podcast which guides visitors around the city: www.artsheffield.org