As we began to add our finished books to the exhibition the space began to come to life. There was a great sense of relief at having finished and so much appreciative interest in the variety and quality of the works. Even though we had been working side by side for three days it was not easy to visualise the finished pieces until they were finally presented to us.
It was really good to see from my point of view, as tutor to this group of 40 people. They had all made a very personal interpretation of the brief. They had each examined their own relationship to place and presented their personal response in inventive and surprising ways. I was able to see how they had incorporated aspects of the skills I had introduced, and how they had used them in very personal ways so that no books were alike.
The comments from the audience who were outside the project looking in were very positive and I began to understand how much the college staff outside our department had been interested in observing our progress. The project wall that we set up seems to have been an effective communication device allowing those outside the project to connect with the project aims and with the individuals from the two groups, whilst also prompting their own connections to place.
We are already being asked when will we be doing this again!
