Walking with Artists creating new Encounters

I’ve had a busy week end preparing for Wednesday’s walk, Walking in the Footsteps of the Huguenots as part of the exhibition @The Republic of Brexitopia  at Espacio Gallery. The walk will start from Espacio at 1 pm.

For more about the exhibition:http://www.espaciogallery.com

The walk is part planned and part wandering to allow for happy encounters. We will start the walk at the exhibition where we will explore the exhibits and record our engagement through making knots using the ropes I have made specifically for this walk.

We will then head towards selected locations which link to chosen readings about weaving, creativity and the history of refugees settling in the area. The readings I will be referencing include Cecilia Vicuña’s Impossible Weaving, Tom Inglis’ Lines and Carlos Varela’s song Walls and Doors. I will also be highlighting the work done by The Refugee Tales which I hope to complement as a part of the walk.

As always there are  many connections between this walk and groups, walking locations and related projects I am involved in like, Walking with The Waste Land.

For more about Walking with The Waste Land:http://wasteland.onsocialengine.com/categories/23679/walking-group

I learnt about The Refugee Tales through Jonathan Skinner professor of ecopoetics at Warwick University. Karen Parker who works at the Mead Gallery, which is co-collaborating with The Turner Contemporary on a Journey with The Waste Land, organised for me to walk with Jonathan, as we share a love of Cecilia Vicuña’s work.

I am so indebted to all the people I have met through walking and talking over the last three years. All these threads have now come together to create next  Wednesdays walk . For more about this and previous walks, please visit my blog:lhttp://elspethpenfold.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/walking-in-footsteps-of-huguenots.html

Looking forward to walking, talking, creating new encounters next Wednesday. Who knows where this might lead to!

Walking in the Footsteps of the Huguenots

Exploring the past, considering the present and recording our thoughts about Post Brexit Britain.

I am organising a collaborative walk for the Republic of Brexitopia exhibition which is being organised by Degrees of Freedom at the Espacio Gallery in Shoreditch between 6th and 16th of September 2017. Brexitopia is an imaginary place, dreamt up in a spirit of gentle irony and dangerous optimism. For more about Brexitopia:http://www.degreesof-freedom.com

For the exhibition  I will be organising a reflective meandering walk from Espacio gallery on the Bethnall Green Rd.  in the direction of the City of London Wall.

During the walk we will explore the surrounding area  and we will stop for selected  readings to open a participative dialogue. The readings will connect with the history  of the Huguenots who sought asylum in Britain and outside the city walls where they were able to develop the weaving trade which to this day is an important part of the areas history.

I also want to weave the lyrics of the song by Carlos Varela ,’ Muros y Puertas’ (Walls and Doors) into the fabric of this walk and include some of the text from the poem ‘Impossible Weaving’ by Cecilia Vicuña which stresses the importance of making and creativity as a way of living a fulfilling life.

During the walk we will use mnemonics to document our thoughts through knots on ropes. I will make the ropes myself in my studio for each walker.

We will stop at intervals along the route for a drink and a chat during which we will undo the knots and share our thoughts with fellow walkers. The walk will be conducted in a spirit of collaboration and all walkers are invited  to participate with me in this process.

The walk is free but ticketed as there is a limit on numbers.

For more information about and to book on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-in-the-footsteps-of-the-huguenots-the-republic-of-brexitopia-tickets-36889387150?aff=ehomecard

Looking forward too walking, talking and sharing with you.

We walked last Friday from Dundas Street Gallery to Inverleith House, in the Royal Botanical Gardens. Here a photo diary of readings and a task based intervention with rope by Naomi Garriock.

Ropes and knots are an important part of documenting the walks and Naomi created some interesting tasks to develop our knot making prowess.

I am still smiling from the experience and so amazed by the City of Edinburgh and all the wonderful artists and academics that help to create this walk. For more about the walk please visit:http://elspethpenfold.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/precario-1990-cecilia-vicuna-maximum.html

A Wander on Friday July 7th

from Dundas Street Gallery to Inverleith house Edinburgh
2pm – 4pm

An artist led walk by Elspeth Penfold inspired by Cecilia Vicuña’s poem ‘Hilo y Palabra’

Includes participative interventions by artists:

Nicola Weir,
Naomi Garriock
Elspeth Penfold
With further work contributed by

artist Julia Riddiough
Ecopoet, Jonathan Skinner
academic Judy Dermott.

And includes

A Yoga Mantra

Ribbons for unravelling

Poetry reading

Ropes

Knots

Timed participative interventions with instructions

Ending at Inverleith House, where the poem was written

Currently closed for exhibitions

Check out our Facebook page Thread and Word; https://www.facebook.com/ThreadandWord/

Free but ticketed: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/threadandword-tickets-34162936262?aff=ehomesaved

ThreadandWord
‘LISTENING WITH OUR EYES’
‘it is difficult to be responsible to an environment, if we have not first listened in to find out who is present’  J.E. Skinner.

Our research for the walk with #ThreadandWord, with its links to Cecilia Vucña’s poem Thread and Word and the associated installation Precario at Inverleithh House in 1970; as well as an unexpected introductory walk through the Bluebell woods in Coventry with Professor Jonathan Skinner, are already ensuring that we listen with our eyes.
Yesterday I received this from one of the artists collaborating on  the#ThreadandWord walk in Edinburgh on July 7th.

This is from Nicola Weir :

‘Inspired by nature and foraging, and loving the bluebells linking in ..have done some research, and discovered in ancient times they were used as a book binding glue, and starch for linen.. seems so appropriate to use this in what I am doing..so hope to try out, and hopefully use in some way with the stitching.
Luckily have lots of bluebells in our garden! I believe not meant to uproot in the wild.

So will update you on experiment..fingers crossed..’

For more about Nicola and her work :http://www.edinburghprintmakers.co.uk/artist/nicola-weir

I was so elated and delighted as I really felt that the process we are using, engaging with walking as research with sited readings, does lead us on a personal journey allowing us to respond and develop new work as a part of our artistic practice.

It brought to mind the following quote from The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane:

The literature of wayfaring is long, existing as poems, songs, stories, treatises and route guides, maps, novels and essays. The compact between writing and walking is almost as old as literature – a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells’

This text also finds its own echo in the poetry of Cecilia Vicuña:

‘La palabra es un hilo y el hilo es lenguaje.          (  Word is thread and thread is language.
Cuerpo no lineal.
Una linea asociándose a otras lineas.’                     Non linear body
(Cecilia Vicun1a, Palbra e Hilo )                               A line associated to other lines.)

This has found expression in Nicola’s work,

which she has described as follows:

‘Stitching small samples for the artist walk linking ‘Threads’ to Inverleith House – on pure linen and cotton muslin. light and tactile threads..natural forms linking to the connection with Royal Botanic Gardens.
The Artists Pool, https://www.theartistspool.co.uk linking artists & coming together at Dundas Street Gallery in July. Edinburgh Threads – art, poetry, place connecting.’

Weaving , pen words and paper by Elspeth Penfold

For more about this walk please visit our Facebook page :https://www.facebook.com/ThreadandWord/?ref=bookmarks

and Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/threadandword-tickets-34162936262?aff=eac2

(although the walk is fully subscribed you can go on the waiting list and will be notified if a place becomes available)