‘The river wants me to stop and be quiet so I can listen more deeply. The river wants me to hear the wind moving through the leaves and the blades of grass softly brushing up against each other. The river knows that if you move slowly along the path you can hear everything that’s around you and everything that’s inside you. The river tells you not to ask where you are going but to follow its forward flow until you meet the sea.’
Participant’s poem, ‘River Writes’ workshop, Earthed Residency
In June 2014 as part of Bristol’s Big Green Week, PECo were commissioned by Bristol City Council’s Create Environment Centre to take up residence for a week.
Local communities and the general public all worked alongside land artist Mick Petts, writer David Lane and PECo artistic director Rachel Aspinwall, as well as ecologists, geologists, archeologists, historians and others to unearth the stories, memories and knowledge lying buried in the adjacent Ashton Meadows green site.
The residency included a weekender of fun and inspiring workshops, talks, walks, an immersive exhibition, an archeological dig and artists interventions, all encouraging people to get their hands and boots earthy and imaginations firing.
A mown grass art competition which ran over the period of the residency resulted in a large-scale mown grass art piece that stayed in situ on the Ashton Meadows site for the rest of the summer.
Exploring the connections between the land and its stories and creative writing and land art, the Earthed Residency aimed to cultivate in all of us a deep connection to the well-being and enjoyment found in our relationship with the Earth.
Visit the Earthed blog site here to find out more.
The Earthed residency was funded by Bristol City Council Create Centre and Big Green Week with support from Riverside Garden Centre, Bedminster Cricket Club, Friends of Greville Smyth Park [FROGS], Café Create, Bristol Ferry Co, HCCA, White City Allotments, Bristol Naturalists, Bristol Civic Society, The Post, Structural Soils, Bristol & Bath Archaeology Club, Bristol & Region Archaeological Services, BV Studios, BCC Harbour Office, Parks Forum, BCC Parks, Bedminster Tobacco Women, the Avon Wildlife Trust and the Bristol Records Office.
This was an Engine House seed idea developed with support from Arts Council England.