A project revealing the hidden knowledge within our cities

 

This project consisted of a series of performative appearances of different materials placed in and around the estate, to initiate processes of sharing diverse knowledge from the different cultures of estate residents. These initiatives then evolved into larger scale activations of people processing the materials - through this enabling a new and deep exchange between cultures. Throughout the season, many people gathered in this harvesting of surprising local knowledge.

 

One such occurrence was when we one day brought 11 raw sheep fleeces to The Back Garden. We spread them out onto the newly cut grass and waited. Before we knew it, people started appearing from left right and centre, arriving to 'deal' with the curious, yet seemingly, very familiar arrival. Before we knew it, a process of washing the wool had begun, and little by little the whole garden was filling up with washing lines of drying wool. After a couple of weeks of careful and repetitive washing and drying, people would gather in the sunshine of the afternoon, to card and spin the wool.  After another few weeks of these spinnings, the wool was transformed through felting and knitting - collectively crafting for collective space. 

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