THE new exhibition at the top floor gallery at Poole’s Lighthouse art centre is an inversion of the usual form of words describing artworks. The Art of Poetry, running to 22nd November, is art created in response to the written word.

Technically described as the reverse of the literary device of ekphrasis, in which language is used to describe visual art, either real or imagined, some 50 poems written by members and invited friends of Poole Poetry Collective were sent to 35 artists associated with Poole and East Dorset Arts Society, Bournemouth Arts Club and Broadstone Art Society with an invitation to create work in response to them.

“It’s fascinating to see what the artists come up with – some are quite literal interpretations, others take different approaches such as responding to an individual line,” says Liz Magee of Poole Poetry Collective.

“We hung the exhibition in the Gallery Upstairs at Upton Country Park earlier in the year and people loved it – so many of them stopped and read every poem, which was amazing. It’s an exhibition you can really take time over.”

Poole Poetry Collective is a community group sharing and studying poetry by established writers and supporting each other to write and perform their own work. Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/poolepoetrycollective/.