From September 2020 to March 2021, I worked remotely with GCSE Photography students at City Academy Norwich as part of my Associate Artist/Tutor work at the Sainsbury Centre
The ‘Locality’ project built upon the student’s Photography curriculum during Lockdown, whilst engaging in deeper exploration and connection with their surroundings and environments, at school or home. The theme of ‘Locality’ took on a greater resonance during this period of intermittent home schooling and ‘Stay at Home’ orders
It’s a great pleasure to show and celebrate the student’s achievements with a public exhibition from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th December, 10am-4pm, at the Sainsbury Centre, UEA, Norwich. There will also be a private view on Thursday 9th December, 5:30pm-6:30pm
Yarmouth Springs Eternal is up for the ‘Freelancing Project Award’ category of the IPSE Freelancer Awards! This feels like brilliant recognition for the project, which not only had significant community impact, but also highlights the expanded potential and momentum that freelance artists can make in their community when they collaborate together
I’ve been invited to give a short pitch on Zoom for the judging panellists to consider and the winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony in London in October
These are some of the things I said about the project:
“Community participatory arts is an often overlooked area of the cultural sector, but often has the deepest impact. Yarmouth Springs Eternal – led in partnership with originalprojects; – recognised the anxiety, disconnection and inequality faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and turned it into an uplifting, welcoming and joyful creative project that engaged local people in their familiar environments
The project, led by arts freelancers, overall supported 15 self-employed cultural practitioners with paid opportunities to make the project to happen. This included leading creative activities, producing events and marketing”
Thank you to all the generous and creative practitioners who helped the Yarmouth Springs Eternal project to bloom in 2021. The seed has already been planted for a second year to grow again in Spring 2022, and this shortlist acts as an extra ray of sunlight to nurture its potential
As Spring has now given way to Summer, the Yarmouth Springs Eternal project has come to a close. For the past year or so, it has been my focus and motivation, and has grown greatly from the time, care and input from our partners, artists, participants and audience. It’s sad to end but I’m delighted with the positive response and generosity of the people who brought the project to life
Hidden nature
Yarmouth Springs Eternal is a community arts, walking and nature project. We spent the Spring season walking around Great Yarmouth, taking notice, slowing down, talking and sharing together. The project shone a light – even when the sun didn’t shine! – on the abundance of resilient and persistent life that has pushed its way through the cracks of the town. Walking together reminded us of other things; we exchanged our ‘knowledge’, not just fact-swapping (although plant IDing can be fun too!) but the sharing of lived knowledge through childhood stories, games, folklore and colloquial words for places and plants that really resonated
The fact that this project evolved from the seed of an idea nurtured in 2020, during Lockdown, is no coincidence. After (or rather, still during) an on-going period of disconnection and disruption, ‘an opportunity to socialise’ was the one of the main outcomes, so far, people have said they gained from engaging in the public programme. Our community group also said that the conversations we had as a group made the ideas and places come to life in a rich way
As well as connecting socially, our audience and participants have said that finding creative ways to connect with nature, being introduced to a new artist’s work, and learning new creative skills were the next top outcomes of engaging in the programme.
We’re still collecting thoughts, comments and reflections from the people who attended the exhibitions and public events over on our survey. Since the survey has been open for submissions, our audience have said:
Photowalks with Jason Evans (image credit_Jonathan P Watts)
“[The exhibition] helped me notice finer details, to really look more closely to nature, particularly at the hidden plants amongst the exhibits, which correlate to the hidden beauties amongst nature”
“It was a great way to re-engage with local people & places after a period of confinement & isolation (Lockdown)”
“A credit to Great Yarmouth”
“All the artists were very approachable and friendly. Sometimes art can seem inaccessible to the lay-person but the format made it more accessible to me as a non-artist”
“I loved how all of the events were free, so they were much more accessible to lower income families/people like myself”
It was important that the project provided paid opportunities for artists and arts practitioners too, in the context of significant financial insecurity as a result of COVID-19. With thanks to funding support, 15 artists or arts practitioners were support through this project with paid commissions to lead sessions, exhibit their work or support with the running of the project, such as marketing
Whilst the project has ended, the main legacy is definitely many happy memories! I hope that there will be support for the project to run again, informed by the feedback from our community and public programme participants. We met with the community group on the last weekend of the exhibition to share the highlights, reflections and areas for development, and I’d also like to encourage anyone who attended the public events or exhibition in May to June to please fill out the feedback form. Your responses will help sow the seed for the next season of Yarmouth Springs Eternal
Thank you
The project was made possible with the support of 15 artists and arts practitioners and 5 funders. It’s hard to put into words how thankful I am for everyone’s input on the project, but I’ve had a go! Thank you:
Brilliant project partners, Jules and Kaavous of originalprojects;, who helped nurture the idea into reality and put in so much graft to make it happen!
Our wonderfully creative, honest and generous Yarmouth Springs Eternal community group for a memorable Spring. They didn’t just turn up, they got stuck in and shaped the programme, and made us all think! Supported with care by Moyses Gomes, our highly recommended and multi-talented project assistant
Our community programme artists who led us on Spring walks with their creativity and passion: Georgie Manly, Kaavous Clayton, Ligia Macedo, Lotte from Red Herring Press, and Mark Cator
The public programme artists whose installations enriched the project and the visitors experience with their imaginative approaches: Bill Vine, Company Drinks, Jacques Nimki, James Aldridge and Jason Evans, plus Climate Museum UK
Our amazing audience who supported the project, not just in presence, but by deeply engaging, questioning and evolving the ideas with their thoughtfulness
Rob from Norwici Print who beautifully designed and printed the Yarmouth Springs Eternal Play Book, a legacy document from the project, capturing the creativity explored in the early Spring community series in an easy-to-follow format
Becky Demmen from Supporting Your Art, who has been working in the background remotely throughout the project. She produced our incredible project video that ingeniously captured the essence of the project through sounds and images. And who ran the project social media excellently too
And finally, the project funders who made it happen with the all important cash backing: Norfolk & Norwich Festival Creative Individuals Norfolk (especially Ailsa McKay and Sally Rose), Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants, East Anglia Art Fund, Norfolk County Council Arts Project Fund, and Better Together Norfolk
Fig, and other plants, growing around a drainpipe (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
The Yarmouth Springs Eternal project centres on the celebration of everyday experiences of the natural world, from the overhanging garden hedges trailing blossom in the street to patches of greenery hidden down alleyways. We have been walking and exploring the streets of Great Yarmouth since April, noticing Spring unfold together, and discovering some surprising delights.
THE PUBLIC EVENTS PROGRAMME
Most recently, in our public programme that launched after our Conference in May, we have had a stimulating series of walks, workshops and events, and there is still more to come during our final Summer Solstice weekend!
Last week, Bill Vine led two sound walks exploring Great Yarmouth through meditative tuning in. We compared the jangled sounds of the amusements to the relatively calm swooshing of machinery from industrial units. The experience encouraged reflective thoughts how much our brain was filtering subconsciously and the heightened experience of close noticing.
Walking with Jacques Nimki (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
During Jacques Nimki’s two walks, we discovered surprising plantlife, such as a miniature fig plant growing from a drainpipe, and a sweet smelling patch of Matricaria discoidea aka ‘pineappleweed’ growing behind some restaurant bins. It’s amazing how connecting closely with the senses can make and trigger memories, as Jacques’ said, “pineapples will no longer conjure up visions of tropical islands, but a car park in the back streets of Yarmouth for everyone that came along.”
On Saturday at our #MyJam Culture Sharing Lab event, organised by Jules Devonshire of orignalprojects;, we were joined by Sean Roy Parker aka Fermental Health alongside Holly Sandiford’s kimchi and kombucha photography and Tiah-Paige Burrell’s natural dye rune art. The event was a great success for its experimental sharing through tastings, demos, conversation and learning about the culture of cultured goods.
This week, I’m leading a cyanotype workshop, exploring a technique that kicked off the initial Yarmouth Springs Eternal community walks/workshops series back in April. We’ll be working on location around town and gathering found materials for our sunprints.
Sean Roy Parker aka Fermental Health giving a demo at #MyJam Culture Sharing Lab (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
There is still time to see and experience the work of Bill Vine, Company Drinks, Jacques Nimki, James Aldridge and Jason Evans, plus Climate Museum UK, a plant and fermented goods swap/share table. The exhibition is open daily until Sunday 20th June from 12pm-5:30pm (closing at 4pm on Sunday) at PRIMEYARC, Market Gates Shopping Centre.
The overall ethos is about nurturing a personal connection to nature through sensory experiential experiences – walking, talking, sharing, touching, seeing, smelling and, with thanks to Company Drinks’ contribution to the exhibition, tasting some delicious community-made cordials on offer during the show!
To bring the project to a close, we are delighted that our exhibition artist Jason Evans will be hosting a weekend of Photowalks around Great Yarmouth. He’ll be sharing some of his own creative approaches to photography in these informal walks around town. The groups are small to encourage conversation and sharing, please book your place via Eventbrite:
SUMMER SOLSTICE PHOTOGRAPHY WALK WITH JASON EVANS
Flower Power, 2018 by Jason Evans and The Garden Gate Project
These fun, informal sessions are designed to expand your experience of photography ideas and techniques, responding to project exhibition.
Walking and looking with a medium format film camera, participants will create a record of unexpected nature and organic surprises in Great Yarmouth over the Summer Solstice weekend.
Participants can bring their own photography kit (camera or camera phone). No previous experience is necessary to take part.
And finally, to bring the creativity of the artists and participants from the initial April to May community walks/workshops programme back round again, we’ll be launching our Yarmouth Springs Eternal Play Book on the Summer Solstice weekend. It features creative arts and nature activities to do on a walk or at home from Georgie Manly, Ligia Macedo aka Gia, Mark Cator, Kaavous Clayton and me. These were the ideas we first explored together back in early Spring and encourage simple and playful ways to connect with the natural world found around town. It’ll be available in print and online.
The activities, events, artist commissions and behind the scenes work for Yarmouth Springs Eternal has been led by me, Genevieve Rudd, in partnership with originalprojects;. The marketing and print has been supported by Norwici Print, Red Herring Press and Supporting Your Art. Supported with funding from Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Arts Council England, East Anglia Art Fund, Norfolk County Council and Better Together Norfolk
Our exhibition is full of things to explore and find. This project is all about exploring overlooked and everyday interactions with the natural world. Read on to get another peek at the exhibition and look ahead to what we will be sharing soon.
THINGS TO FIND
Jacques Nimki piece at Yarmouth Springs Eternal Exhibition (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
Jacques Nimki
Jacques works from and within the urban landscape, using mainly weeds and flowers to explore how we perceive others and ourselves within particular environments. Plants like people, looked at but not seen, forgotten in the backdrops of the everyday, inhabiting places that are usually neglected or unexplored. You can see where this inspiration has led him in his work generally and in the pieces displayed in our exhibition. Come and see if you can find all of his hidden pieces around the exhibition. They will seem to appear out of nowhere, just as plants can. (This image is a clue to where you can find your first weed in the PRIMEYARC gallery space, but the rest you’ll need to discover for yourself! )
Theatre of Posies
On the way to visit our exhibition, we’d like you to explore the spaces around you – your garden, the path outside your house or a local park – and gather together a small posie of flowers to be part of the exhibition. Bring your posie to the exhibition. On arrival, you’ll be invited to write a short note about where you collected them. Then, place your arrangement in the dedicated display.
Theatre of Posies(image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
This can be a great way to take a moment to notice what is right there on your doorstep (maybe literally!)
Remember to pick responsibly!
The Yarmouth Springs Eternal Pamphlet
As you will know from our previous blog, our community group was supported by local writer and printer Lotte LS from Red Herring Press to turn their ideas and thoughts into a pamphlet. This is now sitting in our exhibition ready for you to come and take one home! This is another example of how the exhibition has grown from those initial community walks and how it continues to grow now.
Video in the exhibition (image credit_Genevieve Rudd)
You can also catch the film created by Supporting Your Art documenting our project so far. Becky documented two workshops and combined that footage with photos taken by project facilitators and the group themselves.
For part of his artist-led walk/workshop session Mark Cator 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. You can see some of this footage in the exhibition.
There is so much to find at our exhibition (some of which we haven’t mentioned and have left for you to find) and we have loved seeing your photos and reactions on social media. Make sure you tag us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to let us know what you spotted.
COMING SOON!
Supporting Your Art was also documenting the conference day and we will be sharing the Artists talks in full, so you will be able to get the exciting insights we got on the day.
We will be posting on social media when these videos go live along with a few more updates and announcements to come! So keep an eye out to keep up to date.
Tickets are still available for our walks but they are booking up fast so make sure you get yours soon!
SONIC LANDSCAPES WITH BILL VINE
LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE
Listen in closer to the sonic landscape of Great Yarmouth on a sound walk led by Bill Vine. The walks will allow time for both meditative listening and an opportunity to learn more about the local environment
An opportunity to join artist Jacques Nimki for a walk around Great Yarmouth town centre. Explore the urban landscape, through an interaction with plants that are often overlooked, inhabiting places that are usually neglected or unexplored
Wed, 9 June 2021 14:00 – 15:30| Booking link(open to general public) 16:00 – 17:30 |Booking linkLIMITED AVAILABILITY (open to educators working with Primary age children)
#MYJAM: CULTURE SHARING LAB
This inclusive introductory session is intended as open-source conversation-starter to identify and explore shared interests in the radical nature of fermentation, slow living, holistic health and resourcefulness
Genevieve Rudd invites you to discover the magic of Cyanotype ‘blueprint’ photography, based on drawings and found objects in outdoor locations around town
Wed, 16 June 2021
SUMMER SOLSTICE PHOTOGRAPHY WALK WITH JASON EVANS
These fun, informal sessions are designed to expand your experience of photography ideas and techniques, responding to project exhibition.
Walking and looking with a medium format film camera, participants will create a record of unexpected nature and organic surprises in Great Yarmouth over the Summer Solstice weekend.
Participants can bring their own photography kit (camera or camera phone). No previous experience is necessary to take part.
We’d like you to explore the spaces around you – your garden, the path outside your house or a local park – and gather together a small posie of flowers to be part of the exhibition.
Bring your posie to the exhibition. On arrival, you’ll be invited to write a short note about where you collected them. Then, place your arrangement in the dedicated display.
Remember to pick responsibly!
#MYJAM: CULTURE SHARING LAB
Do you grow edibles in your garden or allotment? Into jamming, preserving or lacto-fermenting? Avid about brewing or sourdough baking? Are you an expert home composter?
We’re inviting you to bring your knowledge, tips and tricks to share with others at #MyJam. Tell us about what your jam is on our form!
The chalkboard at the entrance of the conference (Image credit_Becky Demmen)
On Saturday 22nd May we had our Conference and we thought this would be a great opportunity to look at how each part of our project has informed and enhanced the other.
The Walks -> The Exhibition -> Conference
As you have seen from our previous blogs about the project so far, the idea of connecting creativity and wellbeing has been a constant through-line. Alongside that, has also been the theme of noticing nature in less obvious places. This was first demonstrated through our initial Artist-led community walks programme.
Whether we were writing, drawing, or having a conversation, it was all about looking at our links with the landscape and appreciating what we have around us. These initial walks are reflected in the expanded exhibition event programme (details below). These upcoming public events encourage enjoying nature through different lenses and reacting creatively. And these events are led, just as our community walks were, by exciting Artists with a unique perspective on our project’s themes.
Nurturing connections
The project’s themes and ideas were also carried through to our conference and you could see this in the Artist/speakers who were involved, the displays and the conversations had on the day.
Jason Evans
Photographer Jason Evans spoke about working with the community-led The Garden Gate Project in Thanet in east Kent. He shared his approach to picture-making, building a tool shed darkroom, the joy of learning from working with neurodiverse creativity and working with photographer Brendan Barry.
James Aldridge
The Artist behind Queer River spoke about walks along rivers with others to create and document emergent responses in writing, making & drawing.
Bill Vine
He introduced his acousmatic composition designed for loudspeakers and not performance, his approach to the creation of northsong. Whilst sharing his practice of soundwalks, listening to environmental sounds, the sense of belonging, and the place and time it provides.
Jacques Nimki
How can you make images of what a garden might be without having a garden? Jaques Nimki described the moment he realised that it was always there, it’s about asking the right questions. Well expressed by his 56 elusive works installed around the exhibition space. (See if you can spot them all!)
Genevieve speaking during the Artist Q&A. (Image credit_Becky Demmen)
Those that came to the conference were then invited to ask these Artists along with Kaavous Clayton of originalprojects; and Genevieve about their work and approaches.
We then split into two breakout rooms.
One led by Genevieve looking at what Community arts and participatory engagement means in the current climate, and one with writer, professor and musician George McKay looking at Eco-politics. It felt wonderfully open and although no large conclusions were bought to the sharing session afterwards, there was certainly a lot of important and interesting ground covered.
The day ended with an invitation to share contact details with each other to perhaps continue this sharing and learning to give this space we created, room to grow.
The days work was well supported by the display from Company Drinks (and their delicious forages cordials which were available to rehydrate us all) and the information panels provided by Climate Museum UK that gave a wider context to our discussions.
And all of this happened with the backdrop of the artwork and pamphlet created by our community group during that initial walks programme. It was great to feel a connection to those walks throughout the conference day and in the exhibition itself. The sessions they enjoyed together fuel the thinking and sharing we can do now and the visual reminders of the work they did on display keep that connection present.
George McKay leading a discussion on Eco-politics (Image credit_Becky Demmen)
Genevieve Rudd offers a reflection on the day itself:
“It was a pleasure to hear how the artists each found a deeper connection to places and communities by adopting a slower way of noticing the natural world using multi-disciplinary creative perspectives. Thank you to everyone who was part of making the Conference day!”
Videos of all of the Artist Presentations will be released soon so keep an eye out if you want to watch those. If you want to read all of the live updates that were shared on twitter then head over to there. It’s a really interesting account of the day.
Tickets are still available for our walks but they are booking up fast so make sure you get yours soon!
SONIC LANDSCAPES WITH BILL VINE
Limited Tickets Available
Listen in closer to the sonic landscape of Great Yarmouth on a sound walk led by Bill Vine. The walks will allow time for both meditative listening and an opportunity to learn more about the local environment
An opportunity to join artist Jacques Nimki for a walk around Great Yarmouth town centre. Explore the urban landscape, through an interaction with plants that are often overlooked, inhabiting places that are usually neglected or unexplored
Wed, 9 June 2021 14:00 – 15:30| Booking link(open to general public) 16:00 – 17:30 |Booking linkLIMITED AVAILABILITY (open to educators working with Primary age children)
#MYJAM: CULTURE SHARING LAB
This inclusive introductory session is intended as open-source conversation-starter to identify and explore shared interests in the radical nature of fermentation, slow living, holistic health and resourcefulness
Genevieve Rudd invites you to discover the magic of Cyanotype ‘blueprint’ photography, based on drawings and found objects in outdoor locations around town
Wed, 16 June 2021
SUMMER SOLSTICE PHOTOGRAPHY WALK WITH JASON EVANS
These fun, informal sessions are designed to expand your experience of photography ideas and techniques, responding to project exhibition.
Walking and looking with a medium format film camera, participants will create a record of unexpected nature and organic surprises in Great Yarmouth over the Summer Solstice weekend.
Participants can bring their own photography kit (camera or camera phone). No previous experience is necessary to take part.
We’d like you to explore the spaces around you – your garden, the path outside your house or a local park – and gather together a small posie of flowers to be part of the exhibition.
Bring your posie to the exhibition. On arrival, you’ll be invited to write a short note about where you collected them. Then, place your arrangement in the dedicated display.
Remember to pick responsibly!
#MYJAM: CULTURE SHARING LAB
Do you grow edibles in your garden or allotment? Into jamming, preserving or lacto-fermenting? Avid about brewing or sourdough baking? Are you an expert home composter?
We’re inviting you to bring your knowledge, tips and tricks to share with others at #MyJam. Tell us about what your jam is on our form!
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