We started our community workshop series this week, facilitated by Ligia Macedo. Beginnings can be difficult, but Ligia is a friend of the project and her activity last year was received with a very warm and positive response, so we knew we were in safe hands!
Ligia facilitated a creative writing workshop themed around Inside Out and Outside In. We explored different ways to connect with our internal feelings and external surroundings – and expressed these through written and spoken words. We walked to the cemetery (a favourite spot from last year too!) to experience the “calm” and feel “untroubled”. Before writing a collaborative poem and a private text to ourselves of how to hold onto feeling “serene” in nature, when living in a “chaotic” world
Collecting words and thoughts, at Great Yarmouth CemeteryInside Out and Outside InWalking, exploring and looking, at Great Yarmouth CemeteryFinding the JOY in nature!
This is the poem we created collaboratively, after collecting and selecting words through the session:
Today the Trash <-> Treasure project exhibition opens at Anteros Arts Foundation, Norwich. It’ll be open until Saturday 26th February 2022 and includes artwork produced by the UK artists in the residency project supported by British Council. Over 5 months, 8 artists in the UK and Malaysia took part in a postal exchange of ‘trash’ as the starting point of a cultural exchange. The exhibition features work by Caroline Hyde-Brown, Nur Hannah Wan and myself, plus UK-project lead, Ummi Junid
Inspired by the experience, I created a series of Cyanotype photographic prints. They feature beach-combed materials across the continents and weathered marks of rain and hail, and were washed and processed with collected seawater. At the exhibition, I also curated a selection of the rubbish materials we received in the UK at the entrance of the exhibition space, to set the context for the experiments we then went on to explore
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
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