DO you have an old bag sitting in a corner, all worn and leathery?

If so, international installation artist Jacques Nimki asks you to donate it to his latest artwork in York, but hurry, he requires your unwanted handbags by Saturday. Bags should be dropped off at the Visit York Information Centre, in Museum Street, or the National Centre for Early Music, in Walmgate.

“Is there a forgotten bag lying somewhere in the back of the cupboard, a treasured bag that it’s time to let go of, or maybe one received as a present but never used or liked?" Jacques asks.

"Every bag has a story. They go on journeys, become our companions, carry endless amounts of stuff and are eventually quietly set aside. I would love to know your bag’s tale, which will become part of my installation in the NCEM's grounds."

Jacques will be participating in York Curiouser, a new festival in which hidden and unexplored areas of York will be explored through "contemporary art inventions" in colour, texture and word from June 14 to July 7.

Ideally he wants 300 handbags, shoulder bags and small bags, and yes, "man bags" would be welcome, but not carrier bags or bags with branding.

Those submitting bags are asked to provide a sheet of paper with a postcode or street name in York where the bag has lived or was bought; a brief personal history of the bag and if the bag is related to a moment, person or time. Donors should also give their name and email address if they want to collect their bag at the end of the Bag Project.

At this point, it is only fair to let Jacques point out: "In the final artwork, the bags will contain something which I'm keeping secret for now."

He declined requests to spill the beans, beyond talking of reconstructing a bag's journey and using "other elements that relate to York". However, he did confirm that anyone wishing to reclaim their bag should be prepared for a change in its appearance.

"As the bags will be in the open air and subject to the weather, it's impossible to guarantee their safe return in the same condition," he warns. "Hopefully they'll not be too damaged, but we'll look after them as best we can.

"What's lovely is that with all these bags you're going to have a collection of shapes and colours, so it will be like having an artist's palette and I'll be arranging that palette around the NCEM grounds, which are of course very hidden from view."

The idea of using bags came to Jacques as he was walking around York. "My working practice usually relates to flowers and weeds in the streets, which people don't really notice, though maybe there's now a little more recognition because of our rising environmental awareness," he says.

"Anyway, I was looking at all these snickets in York, but I also noticed people walking around with their bags, and like weeds, you don't tend to notice them until you deliberately start to think about them, as I did. That's when you think about what people using them for: carrying their stuff and their memories."

Jacques tends to use a rucksack and he has started to carry around a cloth bag too. "But when I was walking around York my bag was disintegrating," he recalls. "I was thinking, I really need a bag and I happened to be in an area with lots of charity shops. I ended up looking around five and eventually found a fabric tote bag that I could use in the Bag Project."

In his past art, Jacques has worked from and within the urban landscape, mainly using weeds and flowers as a way of exploring how we perceive others and ourselves in specific environments. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, notably at the Ikon, Tate Britain and the Tatton Biennial, and he has just done a commission for the NHS at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel on the theme of bereavement.

During York Curiouser, on June 17 at 6.30pm at the NCEM, he will give an artist's talk on bags, Yorkshire art and artists working with commissioning groups and working in the public domain. Tickets cost £3, including a glass of wine, and can be booked on 01904 658338.

York Curiouser has been initiated by co-artistic directors Hazel Colquhoun and Lara Goodband. Lara forged links with Jacques when he took part in an exhibition of drawings at York Art Gallery and in the Adventurous Wildflowers exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery.

The final weekend of York Curiouser will coincide with Le Grand Depart for the Tour de France in York and is part of both the 100-day Yorkshire Festival accompanying the tour and the University of York’s Festival of Ideas.

For more information on York Curiouser and the artists, visit yorkcuriouser.com