Designing the project pamphlet with Lotte from Red Herring Press (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
We concluded our series of community walks/workshops on Saturday, supported by local writer and printer Lotte LS from Red Herring Press. Lotte supported the group to reflect on their walking and creative experiences over the previous 5 weeks, and to turn their ideas into a pamphlet.
Creating a pamphlet design (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
Historically, pamphlets have been used to express strong social messages or political ideas, Lotte explained. It was a chance for us to use a folded booklet medium to say something to the exhibition visitors about our collective experience, beyond just documenting the journey. The group decided that each artist-led walk had an ‘essence’, a message that could be shared and applied beyond the activity and into our wider lives. As a result, heart-felt phrases grew from the reflections:
And, after some jokes about exposing yourself in the sun (!),‘developing patience under the sun’– the message from the cyanotype session I led with the group.
Once the group had their core messages, supported by Lotte, they then selected other images, phrases and ideas made during the walking sessions to include in the pamphlet. Lotte brought along her typewriter to add typed text alongside the hand-written thoughts. We ended up with lots of drawings and words, and were miraculously able to whittle it down to a selection the group were happy with, arranged across 2 sides of an A3 page to be printed and folded. The visiting exhibition audience will be able to take a copy of the final pamphlet away with them. I can’t wait to see the final result!
A new season approaches
Typing up creative writing works on a typewriter for the pamphlet (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
It seems slightly surreal that we’re half way through the project already and have said goodbye (just temporarily, I hope!) to our community group. The first half of Yarmouth Springs Eternal was a programme of community walks/workshops with visiting artists working with people connected with Herring House Trust and GYROS charities in Great Yarmouth. The group were so engaged and had lots of brilliant ideas, and it was a total pleasure to work with them. I’d like to thank our visiting artists and our project assistant, Moyses Gomes, for helping to make the first part of the project a brilliant success. You’ll be able to get a flavour of the sessions from a video being put together by Becky Demmen of Supporting Your Art launching for the exhibition and available to enjoy online too.
The group had lots of positive things to say about how the series helped them to value and notice aspects of the natural world that they would have otherwise overlooked. These ideas will strongly influence the next phase of the programme. I also have ambitions to run the project again, with some adapted approaches based on the group’s feedback and experiences, so if you’re reading this and might be able to support it with fundraising or project development, then please get in touch!
What’s next?
Just as the later Spring weather has shifted here on the coast, our programme is now moving into the next part, with our public exhibition programme launching next week. We’ll be officially opening our exhibition at PRIMEYARC in Market Gates Shopping Centre on Wednesday 19th May, with Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th as a time for the local press to visit and any last changes to be made, a sort-of ‘soft opening’. The exhibition will grow and evolve as the show goes on, until Sunday 20th June, so I’d strongly recommend paying a couple of visits…
On Thursday 20th May next week, I’ll be presenting the project alongside the 5 other Norfolk & Norwich Festival Creative Individuals Norfolk fund awardees at a live streamed event, and then on Saturday 22nd May, we’ll be hosting our Conference. We start the show with lots of conversation and exploration, moving into an exciting programme of (free!) creative artist-led events in June to get doing, making and experimenting with creativity and nature. The bookings have already started to come in and we’ll have more events launching once the show gets going, such as Photo-Walk sessions led by our exhibition artist Jason Evans on the final Summer Solstice weekend of the show.
I hope that the themes and ideas explored in the show will chime with the visiting audiences, and that the core concepts developed by the Yarmouth Springs Eternal community group offer inspiration for a happy nature-connected life.
EVENTS COMING SOON!
Find out details of our upcoming events below. If you would like to stay informed of all of the latest information about these events, then you can sign up to our newsletter. Our next update will be coming out soon!
EXHIBITION – WEDNESDAY 19TH MAY TO SUNDAY 20TH JUNE 2021
Excluding the 22nd May for the conference.
PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2BG | Open daily: Monday-Saturday 12pm to 5:30pm + Sunday 12pm-4:30pm
PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2BG | Timings and booking details, tbc |
We will be hosting a series of drop-in and bookable artist-led walks and events that explore creativity connected to the natural world. You can check out the full expanded programme on Eventbrite.
All events are planned to follow and adhere to COVID-19 guidelines
Kaavous Clayton of originalprojects;, who are a partner on the Yarmouth Springs Eternal project and will be hosting the exhibition at PRIMEYARC, a space they manage for creative communal collaborations in the former Debenhams in Market gates Shopping Centre, shares some of his thoughts about Yarmouth Springs Eternal and the curation of the exhibition.
Optimistic Antidote
Kaavous Clayton at a Yarmouth Springs Eternal session (image credit_Becky Demmen)
After a year of not being able to do what we do, Yarmouth Springs Eternal has felt like an optimistic antidote to being shut away from people and not being to collaborate in any way that has felt meaningful (online experiences just don’t quite do it for me). It has been so nice to see the group that Genevieve has been working with come into PRIMEYARC to work with artists in the landscape of Great Yarmouth.
In the back of my mind thoughts have been swirling about the exhibition. Genevieve and I started talking about possible artists at some point last year, thinking about people who work to connect nature with communities, bringing them together to create something that speaks of both, and also creates something new. We’ve had conversation with some of those artists about the physical things they might show, and also had some thoughts about other things that might be relevant to show alongside them – things like wormeries, dried flowers, a theatre of posies, some pickling and fermentation (Jules, who I live, love and work with, makes some great analogies around the cultures that grow while fermenting and the culture we live in).
We’ve also had thoughts about what the exhibition might look like and how it might work – we’ve had conversations about how a ‘village hall’ aesthetic might make it feel more relaxed and informal, and recently ideas around garden design and the labels used in nurseries for plants have been discussed.
Working through exhibition materials (image credit_Becky Demmen)
And I find myself starting to have a clear picture of what the exhibition could look like and how I’d arrange it, but I keep having to check myself, because this project is about working with people, and whilst we all have our own ideas, it’s what happens to those ideas when they’re put out into the world for other people to respond to, and to come back with their thoughts, so it’s going to develop through a sharing of these ideas with the Yarmouth Springs Eternal group, and seeing what ideas they come up with in response.
Analogies from the natural word are hard to resist whilst thinking about this project, and here’s one in relation to creating collaboratively. Regardless of however many systems we try to put in place to restrict peoples organic ways of thinking and living, we always find a way to go round them, or under them, or over them, in the same way that nature always finds a way to overcome our manmade obstructions, which is hardly surprising, as we are nature after all.
Using pieces created as part of the community artist-led community walks/workshops to create a display for the exhibition (image_credit Becky Demmen)
EVENTS COMING SOON!
Find out details of our upcoming events below. If you would like to stay informed of all of the latest information about these events, then you can sign up to our newsletter. You can see our first newsletter here, it’s the best way to get an over view of all of the events below.
EXHIBITION – WEDNESDAY 19TH MAY TO SUNDAY 20TH JUNE 2021
PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2BG | Open daily: Monday-Saturday 12pm to 5:30pm + Sunday 12pm-4:30pm
Ligia Macedo talking to the group at Great Yarmouth’s medieval flint wall (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
Collecting words
In our fourth session, Ligia Macedo guided us through some gentle creative writing exercises to support the group to express their thoughts, feelings and ideas through words. We begun with a couple of socially distanced warm-up exercises, spread across the PRIMEYARC venue space, before heading out on our local walk.
First, the group read and responded to nature writing and images; pinned to the walls were texts from Maya Angelou, Emily Dickenson, Tu Pac and William Wordsworth, amongst others, alongside images of paradise beaches, chips stalls, buildings and rivers from around the world. The group was invited to jot down their immediate responses anonymously on Post It notes, as a way to start tapping into expressing ideas through words. Then, Ligia invited us to think about the sensory experience of our own morning so far, from the moment we woke up to when we arrived at the space. We soon started to build up a collection of words connected to the senses and nature.
Ligia has a great approach that recognises that often people can freeze up when they are asked to take part in “creative writing”, so the warm-ups were a good way to get us thinking.
Noticing Hidden Histories
Looking up at Great Yarmouth’s medieval flint wall (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
We set out on our walk mid-morning, from our base at Market Gates to the Medieval flint town wall. As with most of our walks to date, they’re slow, gentle and meandering, with lots of stopping points to share some local knowledge, take a photo or admire a building or plant. We noticed architectural features, self-seeded plants growing in the doorways, crumbling brickwork and spotted the same pink flowered hedge that we’d seen on a previous walk through Cobholm.
During our journey, we each had a series of coloured card sheets asking us to document different aspects of the locations, not just the things we could see but also the things we could hear, smell and touch. So, naturally, there was some brickwork-stroking, tree-sniffing and tree-hugging along the way!
The flint wall is visually stunning and enjoyable to touch, and it is also seeped in deep history. Ligia and the group swapped knowledge of the wall between each other. The group also thought more about the people involved in the construction, and we put ourselves in the shoes of the local communities building the wall for over 100 years. We wondered about the brickwork and structure, and how different generations would’ve brought different skills and attitudes to the project.
The group found a spot along Blackfriars Road, under a large candelabra-like tree beside the wall, to reflect on the sensory experiences of our walk so far. One of our group members shared that she felt anxious when walking through town as it was busy – which others in the group agreed with – but sitting under the tree, she felt calmer. As a final activity, before heading back for lunch, Ligia gifted us 5 minutes of silence simply touching, smelling, looking at and hearing the world around us.
Collective writing
Sharing words and phrases from the day with Ligia Macedo (image credit Genevieve Rudd)
After lunch (which tapped into our 5th sense – taste!), we brought all the ideas together from the day on a long sheet of paper, writing down our favourite lines or words from the nature writing examples, our morning sensory experiences and the sights, sounds and smells from our walk. From this, the group created a collaborative community poem, called ‘Uma escritor (a writer)’. I won’t share it here, you’ll have to visit the exhibition to read it!
It was brilliant to spend the day tuning into our sensory experiences. I was especially inspired to think about how the everyday locations – from the busy town centre to Great Yarmouth’s old wall, and the buildings and houses in between – are so rich with hidden stories. And how, with just a few simple accessible activities, an inspiring creative writing can blossom. Our group shared some thoughtful anonymous reflections at the end of the day:
“Today’s session was relaxed, creative and a good reminder of what we have to appreciate”
“Muito interessante, criativa, por causa da troca de ideias” / Really interesting, creative, because of the exchange of ideas”
“Every session has thus far been good. I have felt my creative side coming out more and am inspired after every group”
Events coming sooN!
Find out details of our upcoming events below. If you would like to stay informed of all of the latest information about these events, then you can sign up to our newsletter. Our first update will be going out this Friday!
EXHIBITION – WEDNESDAY 19TH MAY TO SUNDAY 20TH JUNE 2021
PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2BG | Open daily: Monday-Saturday 12pm to 5:30pm + Sunday 12pm-4:30pm
Under Breydon Bridge (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
We were led by photographer Mark Cator for our third artist-led walk/workshop session. He began his session with a photography presentation of Great Yarmouth, with a focus on the life and culture around Breydon Water since the 1800s. Mark is an expert on the photographer P H Emerson, having grown up around the Norfolk Broads, so much of the presentation explored this historic work alongside Mark’s own photography. It was fascinating to track the changes based on local landmarks, such as the Town Hall and river, which gave us a good starting point before heading out on our walk, picking up the start of the Angles Way walking route.
Links to Landscape
Angles Way walking route (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
One of our group members had a strong personal link to the area, having grown up and lived on the edge of Breydon Water for many years, which enriched the day with lots of insider local knowledge. Mark had some of his own photography from the area taken around the 1990s, that we used to compare and contrast on location. Even when the group didn’t have a personal connection to the landscape we were walking within, it triggered early memories. One of our participants had spent time in Alaska when he was younger and remembered eating Fiddlehead Ferns, a memory sparked during a conversation about the abundant edible Alexanders around us. Another participant had grown up in South Africa and remembered childhoods exploring vast landscapes. We spoke about how, in the context of Norfolk, Breydon Water looks vast but even here, we’re still not far from houses, shops, trains and roads.
We were blessed with bright sunshine and blue skies, so it felt like the perfect day to relax by the water, talking and sharing stories, sitting low to the ground to keep away from the cool wind once we reached Breydon Water. Mark had selected a text by P H Emerson written around 1890 on the stories from the area. We each read a short passage against the watery backdrop, recorded by Mark. After basking in the sun, chatting and taking some photos, we walked back into town for lunch.
Reviewing & recording
Screening of Sara reading P H Emerson (image credit Genevieve Rudd)
In the afternoon, we had a screening of the group’s reading Mark had recorded on location, which audiences will be able to see at our exhibition in May and June Thanks to our project assistant Moyses Gomes for translating extracts of the text into Portuguese too. Once we’d all been embarrassed by seeing ourselves on the big screen (!) Mark had a final activity to bring our conversations, walking and experiences from the day together. We thought about the lines found at Breydon Water – horizon, jetty, posts, clouds – and created a long collaborative monochrome drawing. The page was populated with words extracted from the P H Emerson text, some of which are now lost in history. Some of our multilingual group members also translated selected words to add into the drawing, alongside line drawings in graphite and charcoal.
It was a relaxed and sunny day, filled with conversations and images from the past and present. Our group members had lots of positive things to say about the session:
“The photos of the areas at the beginning were essential and a good opener to the walk and observation in the nature”
“Quite relaxing and pleasant I’d say. Photography is not one of my skills, but I enjoyed meeting you guys”
“I really enjoyed unexplored areas of Great Yarmouth”
Events coming sooN!
Find out details of our upcoming events below. If you would like to stay informed of all of the latest information about these events, then you can sign up to our newsletter. Our first update will be going out in a couple of weeks time.
EXHIBITION – WEDNESDAY 19TH MAY TO SUNDAY 20TH JUNE 2021
PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2BG | Open daily: Monday-Saturday 12pm to 5:30pm + Sunday 12pm-4:30pm
Exploring the Cemetery with Georgie Manly (image credit_Moyses Gomes)
In our first session when asked where the group would visit to experience nature around town, the most popular answer was Great Yarmouth Cemetery. Therefore it made sense to make the Cemetery our walk destination for our second session guided by guest artist Georgie Manly.
EXPLORING & OBSERVING
Drawing in the Cemetery (image credit_Moyses Gomes)
We headed out from our meeting place in Market Gates Shopping Centre, through the market and towards the Minster. The walk was filled with the sound of alarms, sirens and dogs barking, so reaching the Minster and Cemetery grounds felt especially peaceful. After swapping facts about the history of the building, we explored the space individually with some prompts from Georgie. She suggested we focus on a plant to create a study with words and sketches, from observations, memories and stories or facts we already knew about it we welcomed into the mix.
After some initial sketching, we moved into the Old Cemetery, past a gathering of seagulls and pigeons fighting over bread crumbs and into the windy tree lined space. We then created a second plant study in this wilder location. Many of the group members were drawn in by the gnarled trees, pretty Spring primroses and rambling ivy vines. One of our participants shared a beautiful poem she had written in Portuguese, which she translated to the group in English. She spoke about the connection between humans and plants, and how we share so much in our life cycles, and Georgie suggested that the graveyard environment can often inspire deep reflections on life.
To round off our time at the Cemetery, we had a go at drawing with scissors, cutting shapes from coloured paper inspired by our plants studies, which we then embedded into the landscape. For me, this felt like the most magical part of the day. The group was tentative at first and we spoke about what a strange thing it was to do. However, after a little while, we had soon curated a pop-up exhibition of colourful shapes, and included papier mache recycled vessels one of our group members brought along to show us. The whole arrangement was made even more surreal by the dead rat laying face up under the tree nearby, but it was fun and lively because of its spontaneousness and playful energy in what could’ve been a solemn space if it wasn’t for the Spring plants bursting into life around us.
After carefully removing our paper shapes and making sure the location was left how we found it, we went back for a spot of lunch from the market. We reviewed our morning walk and created a new arrangement using the things we had made, drawn and found in the Cemetery. Georgie is very good at gently encouraging creative engagement and the group soon curated another arrangement, this one even more beautifully odd and eclectic than the last! We took part in large scale still-life drawing with charcoal and coloured ink to finish off our day, with some slow looking, quick 1 minute sketching and added collaged elements of our drawn shapes.
Still-life drawing and found object arrangement with Georgie Manly (image credit_Moyses Gomes)
It was brilliant to work with Georgie and see how her influence sparked fresh creativity with the Yarmouth Springs Eternal community group. I think the final charcoal collaged drawings show the free and playful energy she brought out from the group.
Look out for Georgie’s creative prompts and ideas, alongside our other guest artists, in the Yarmouth Springs Eternal creative resource booklet, which will launch at the Summer Solstice. It will be filled with ways to engage with the outdoors and natural world, inspired by the community events this Spring. You can also see all of the artwork produced by the community group in our exhibition at PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre in Great Yarmouth from 19th May to 20th June. You can find out more about the exhibition by visiting the Norfolk & Norwich Festival website.
Out and about
Here are some other places you can find the project:
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