A Place For Words: The Wild Wood
What happened?
In the winter of 2007, the Word Hoard (a co-operative of writers and artists based in West Yorkshire) were commissioned by Kirklees Countryside Unit to animate and attract new visitors to a series of nature reserves in the borough.
The Wild Wood was a project in TP Woods, Huddersfield. It took its starting point from The Wind In The Willows, when Mole wanders into the woods and discovers the strange and powerful world of the woodland environment in the dead of winter...
Young people and their families living near to the wood took part in a series of events and activities, exploring and responding to the place through words and temporary site specific art works.
The Word Hoard work with an understanding of place as something that is imagined and made; that creative engagement with place can foster ownership, stewardship, and a recognition that the real place you live in can be remade by you.
Project Gallery
Spider with web beside tree by Astrid, Anita, Hamza, Omar and Umme
'Ruby' by Matilda
'Collage' by Clare
What made it work?
- A recognition of the power of play and exploration as a way to create stronger relationships with place
- A strong thematic thread to the project - taking The Wind in the Willows and the idea of fairytale and myth as a starting point
- Adaptable, open arts processes
- Continuity: the temporary sculptures left in the wood attracted new people to the project as it progressed
- Intergenerational activities that gave depth to the sense of place
Further information and links:
« Back to Case Studies, Literature and public art (temporary outcomes)
