READ BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT HERE
Links to artist pages
Dominique Baker & Hannah Aebi @ Clements End
Dominique and Hannah are both dance performers and were looking forward to engaging the public at the weekender event. The pandemic found them located far away from each other which required them to redirect their research.
Sharon Foley @ Ellwood
Sharon comes from background of working in glass. Her workshops with the children of Ellwood School provoked rich discussions and debate.
Jean Goubert @ Whitecroft
Jean’s background is in theatre and his engagement was cut short by the pandemic. He hopes we can deliver the project in the future.
Tina Hitchens @ Christchurch
Tina works with sound and composing and found it hard to connect with on the surface, so went on underground adventures.
Carol Laidler @ Yorkley
Carols works with words, images and conversations, often sing walking to do so. Transport hindered her ideas so she focussed on remote communications.
Henry is a poet and became curious about how different aged people relate to the forest. His poems will make you smile.
Shebang #1 @ Berry Hill
Shebang work are a collective that creates socially engaged events. They had two very different sites – one near the top of our intended ‘trail’ and the other near the bottom. One in Oldcroft, an isolated grassy island where horse riders rode past, the other at Berry Hill, outside a busy pub.
Shebang #2 @ Oldcroft
What next?
We would love to be able to present the project in the future, but in the current climate we cannot see how that is possible. We could make it an online version but that doesn’t meet the needs of the artworks, which were researched specifically with audience encounters in mind. The Forest is a wonderful place to walk in and during the pandemic it is a fantastic resource for wellbeing and exercise. But we cannot create social gatherings in the foreseeable future.
When it changes, we would seek to fundraise again to make it happen.
Until then, we wish to say a big thank you to West Dean Parish Council who shared our vision for this event and invested in it too. Also Arts Council England who allocated a grant to West dean Parish Council to support us in our first months of operations, and during the early days of the pandemic.
Most of all we are grateful for the commitment from the artists. Some had got further in their research than others, but all were looking forward to working with us to present what would have been a brilliant weekend for all ages.
canopy creative network 