Borderline residency: “You wouldn’t know the English-Scottish border was there”

“There are only three main roads that cross the border and they are the only times you will see something,” says artist Zoe Childerley. “Generally, apart from the roads, you wouldn’t know the border was there.”

This summer, Childerley has been walking the 100 miles of the English-Scottish border. Based at Highgreen Estate in the sparsely populated Tarset region of Northumberland since April, she has been undertaking a six-month residency with Visual Arts in Rural Communities (VARC).

The London-based artist initially submitted her proposal around the time of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. A year and a half later, on the cusp of her sojourn, the EU referendum result gave a new topicality to the question of borders.

A large part of the residency has involved meeting local people and discovering the area through their stories, from local farmers, guides at historic landmarks and foresters from Kielder, the largest man-made forest in England. Meetings were organised in advance of her journey.

“I knew that once I was walking, I wouldn’t have time to stop and chat because there was so much ground to cover,” she says. In fact, once en route, Childerley could go an entire day without seeing anyone else.

The parish of Tarset is one of the least populated areas of England, with approximately 106 households, scattered very widely. “Over a few centuries, the area between Northumberland, Cumbria and the Scottish borders was lawless,” explains Childerley. “People are quite proud of that history and no matter if you are English or Scottish, it’s a shared history. People often say that they have a stronger identity as a borderer as opposed to their national identity.”

Armed with her audio recorder, Childerley spoke to people from both the English and Scottish sides. “Generally, people who live close to the border do not want Scottish independence because it will be a hassle,” she says. “For generations they have crossed the border to live, work, visit the doctor, go to school, meet someone who they marry, for example. For people who live there, they’re not used to it being significant.”

In talking with so many people, Childerley did of course find that opinions varied. “Some people on the Scottish side are sympathetic to the ideas for independence… You can also see this in the EU referendum breakdown, people [I spoke to] in the border areas [generally] voted to stay.”

Childerley is creating a large wall-based map drawing charting her journey, conversations and research into the history of the area. Her map of her route and photographic stills from her encounters will also appear as an artists’ book that she is publishing with VARC to mark the culmination of her residency. “The real thing for me is the difference between the psychological idea of the border and what is there when you are physically on the ground,” she says.

It took 12 days to walk the border, paced over a period of two months. In between this Childerley has been drawing, undertaking more interviews and also a side-project, volunteering at the observatory in Kielder – an experience from which she is developing a second body of work, another map-based project in collaboration with painter Loz Atkinson that draws on the “magical feeling of stargazing and having more understanding of the physics behind it”.

Exploration and discovery is perhaps integral to a residency with VARC. Since 2000, the organisation has been renting barns and other outbuildings on Highgreen Estate in Northumberland to enable one or two artists, annually, to place their practice within this remote landscape and community. Located in the 5,000 acre grounds of Highgreen Manor with its Scottish baronial-style architecture and wild moorland setting, it is four miles from the nearest village, which has just one pub, and ten miles to the nearest shop.

Specifically aimed at artists who feel their practice would benefit from a period of relative isolation, VARC has built up strong relations with the local community since it was founded as a trust from a private donation, becoming a registered charity in 2001. VARC’s sole member of staff, Janet Ross, sees her role as enabler and supporter of what the artist wants to do. She visits resident artists every two weeks and is on hand to help or advise by telephone.

“Each artist has had different and amazing relationships with the community,” she says. “Many of them have made very good friends and come back to visit. Local people keep those relationships going as well. It’s been a very good thing to be part of making it happen.”

In fact, the area seems to exert a pull on the artists who have been resident at Highgreen. Previous residents Karen Rann, Helen Pailing and Jenny Purrett have each returned and made Tarset their home. Iranian artist Khosro Adibi has also recently returned and, with support from Highgreen Estate, is transforming a derelict outbuilding into a workshop as a base for himself and a future project space.

As for Childerley, the residency experience has surpassed her expectations. “I didn’t expect everyone to necessarily make time for me,” she says, “but everyone was really nice about showing me around and letting me photograph and interview, while they were busy working.”

“The reasons I do these residencies is to learn about new places and different cultures,” adds Childerley, explaining that her last project prior to Walking the Border was a series of encounters with ranching families and communes in the Mojave Desert and Southern Colorado, where her first foray into map-making came about.

Before moving to London, where she also teaches, Childerley was in Leicester where she studied photography at BA and MA level. She has developed a residency-based practice, breaking up her year into travel-based projects and London-based post-production and employment.

“Exploring and meeting people is so bound up in my work that I find it easier or better to focus when I’m away from my day to day, which I associate with the city,” she says. “I’m lucky enough, through teaching,to have a flexible job where I can take a few months out at a time and go somewhere else. I like having that time out to just focus on my practice.”

An end of residency exhibition takes place at Highgreen, Tarset, Northumberland from 11 to 25 September 2016. The exhibition is part of the International Print Biennale

Images
1. Zoe Childerley, Debatable prints (7), 2016
2. Zoe Childerley in the VARC studio at Highgreen Estate, Northumberland
3. View from Catcleugh Shin into Scotland. Photo: Zoe Childerley
4. Scarecrow border guard at the foot of Scots Dyke. Photo: Zoe Childerley
5. Zoe Childerley, Border sketchbook, 2016
6. Zoe Childerley, Land of Milk and Honey, 2015
7. The Lochmaben Stone, traditional marker for the Western end of the border and meeting point for the Wardens of the Marches and raiding parties. Image credit: Zoe Childerley

More on a-n.co.uk: