I'm excited to share an update about one of my most recent projects. We’ve completed our research and development phase for the project, supported by ACE & Arts & Heritage, who I am grateful to for providing me with the space to get the project going.
Weaving the Wild is an artist film that explores the enduring power of indigenous stories and their relevance to contemporary struggles for common land and the effects of climate change. Inspired by studies at the School of Myth in Dartmoor, I embark on a cinematic quest with the aim of inspiring viewers to reconnect with nature, advocate for land access, and celebrate the enduring power of oral traditions.
We journey to meet contemporary storytellers from diverse cultures, all connected to significant natural landscapes. Through these encounters, we weave together a mosaic of creation myths, animal fables, and other oral traditions. These stories all share a reverence for nature as a source of life, wisdom, and connection to the unseen, exploring how culture changes from the edges.
Weaving the Wild aims to raise awareness of the ongoing struggles for common land and the value of indigenous stories in the contemporary world. In old stories evil forces threaten the kingdom - but in the process of overcoming them, it’s not the heroes journey we should attach to, but the central question of the story of Parsifal - namely, “what ails thee?”. This question unlocks all trauma, as we step out of our own stories and hear someone else’s. The earth, the neighbour, the lover.
Some further inspirations include the words of the late John Moriarty, who’s audio recordings of his Dreamtime books are available as a resource, imagery from the Hollow Earth exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary (2023), research undertaken on my UAL 20/20 residency with Wolverhampton Art Gallery and my experience of a 5 day fully fasted Visionquest in the forests of Snowdonia, “a Lakota Indian wilderness tradition to mark transitions in life”.
