Allotment arts event, April 08
This month I have put together a two day residential at The Birchcliffe Centre in Hebden Bridge for a range of artists from all different disciplines to share their creative practice. Funded by The Arts Council, this event was a response to taking part in a conference in Oxford last year called Invigorate that brought together mid-career artists to discuss future policy. That conference was very argumentative, and in contrast, the two days in Hebden were a journey through live art, visual art, drama, poetry and many other art forms exploring how artists were shaping their current work. Highlights for me included a wonderful sculpture on the carbon cycle by Lizz Tuckerman that she erected in the garden of the centre, and a song that filled the whole interior of the Weslyan Chapel we also hired by Julie Mcnamara. But there were many other moments of inspiration, discussion, good food and company. I am hoping to archive this event via a web site that is being put together at the moment with Simon ZImmerman and when the material is ready I will post the details up on this blog. I want to say a huge thank you to the nine artists who took part in this event with me, because it takes guts to share your work in progress, warts and all, with your peers, especially with a group of peers exploring their work with a sense of maturity, and years of experience under their belts. I am not implying this was a group of people hitting mid-life questions, but some of that did take place over the two days!
Feeling the Pressure
I have been reading a fantastic book edited by Paul Munden over Easter called Feeling the Pressure, and published by The British Council in Switzerland. It includes new work on the subject of climate change interspersed with scientific fact and thoughtfully put together in a series of subject headings - such as Extremes and Impacts. I recognise many writers in this collection but had not read their work on the subject. I particularly enjoyed Neil Rollinson’s poem Amphibians which takes human beings in full circle and imagines them becoming toad-like again. The poems’ language is very guttural, physical and full of the sound of rain. I also love the front cover of the book which features a very tactile barometer.
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About
Anne Caldwell is a poet and literature consultant. She works for NAWE and the Open University, Bolton University and runs workshops in schools and community settings.
Contact Tel. 07818 052108
email a.caldwell@nawe.co.uk
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Read This
'A Wilder Vein' edited by Linda Cracknell
