At the end of 2020, I was involved in a project in West Penwith that engaged artists with the prehistoric structures scattered across the landscape. During this time, I created a photo/painting and developed a proposal for a photography project. The onset of lockdown brought this work to a halt. However, following a conversation with Rosi Jolly last year (thank you for your enthusiasm), I have begun to develop this idea into an ongoing strand of practice.
There’s a fair amount of logistics with this project and the stars also have to align. On a clear April night with a full moon we met at Tregesal Stone Circle before dawn and took a few shots. We now have an understanding of how long it takes to wrap a stone circle and I own a large ‘stone wrapping materials bag’ stuffed with survival blankets and clips. I’ve also fully oiled my tripod and purchased a new shutter release cable…. We will be back in January 2027.
In August I am in residence at Contact darkroom Totnes, I hope there will be an opportunity to stomp over Dartmoor a bit with the bag and a camera.
In light of new engagement projects at Kresen Kernow and The Museum of Cornish Life this autumn, I wanted to try some new processes for sharing with others
Delivered a piece of work for Camp Kernow an off grid summer camp for children, made a darkroom from not much, the kids where really keen to make ‘ghosts’ which was fun (see the movie here). Had some leftover paper so I took a picture in the river at Bosahan woods, would like to make a wellington boot pinhole real soon, so I can keep my tripod dry.
With funding from Tehidy Community Chest and Camborne Council we were able to hold a celebration day on Saturday 14th June.
The cottage was open to visitors to look at the outputs of the Tehidy Creative Residency Programme (see previous posts) and the work of The Active Looking project with their annual exhibition being held in the house too. All day volunteers from the project served refreshments and showed people round the gallery spaces. In the morning Laurie Huggett ran a writing workshop infused with Kernowek as part of her Gwedhen project and in the afternoon I presented the birth of ‘kernowfuturism’. This is a mix of science fiction, history and fantasy, with thanks to black artists like ‘Sun Ra’ we can explore the complexities of identity using cinematic tropes. At this scratch event we had DJ Sounds Like Cornwall playing original Cornish vinyl, Poet Lucy Beckley collecting our words of hope on a Clootie tree and artist Rosi Jolly creating Kernowfuturistic costumes from scrap with all ages.
I became a futuristic Bal Maiden, serving tea treats and scones and the day finished with an Afro-Caribbean feast served by Coco Bean Cornwall and prizes for the best costumes.
The concept, an emerging ideology of creative expressions is embedded in the identity of the black diaspora and its links to Cornwall identity. I hope to create a new project from this first event that explores the future ambitions of Cornwall and asks what ideologies we have in common with others. In a time of political unrest around these isles, there is a need for Kernow to lead and celebrate difference.
