A  photo diary with some words about our walk for Brexitopia at Espacio Gallery. 

Walking in The Footsteps of the Huguenots                                                           

This walk was sort of planned with wandering in mind, we allowed ourselves to get lost. I had fixed points which we aimed to walk towards. 

Brexitopia and The Refugee Tales

When the opportunity arose to do something for The Republic of Brexitopia exhibition at Espacio I was elated. 

Those of you who know me well and are aware of my back ground know that I come from a family of migrants. For someone from my part of the world, where you are from is complex to say the least, but so is it for many people here in the UK.


Our reference to the Huguenots was to put our walk and geographical location (using psychogeography, if you like) to contextualise, refugees, asylum seekers and the need for safety as a human right. 

We Started outside Espacio , reading the
prologue from Refugee Tales II:

'LISTEN, FRIEND
We hold this truth
To be Self-evident
That a person
Who has a story
Requires space -
To start
We set this out
A simple requirement
In language
That in justice
As it is told
A person's story                         In our stride.
Be accorded
Its place..........."

and so to The weavers fields, where we wandered and took it in turns to read from Cecilia Vicuña's poem "Impossible Weaving".

 

We used the poem and the connection with Weavers fields to reflect in particular on the role the Huguenots, who sought refuge in this country, played in the development of textiles in the  surrounding area.







The walk was conducted in a spirit of collaboration. Both Simon and Sandy, who had never met before this walk, told us that they were related to the Huguenots. 

 I had read  somewhere that 1 in 6 people in the UK are related to the Huguenots. 

Then... it rained!

and on to The Nomadic garden

With stunning explanations and  contributions by Travis and Simon about the street art that we encountered on our route.

It was indeed a privilege to have you with us!

                                                                                                                                                           

The Nomadic Garden

At the Nomadic Garden we had a great welcome, sharing poetry readings from Cecilia Vicuna, excerpts from Refugee Tales II and personal anecdotes about our experiences of being outsiders.

a bit more rain as we left......loving the palm tree below!

and ... on to Shoredtich

High Street with Simon pointing out iconic drawings which I had never noticed.

Ending with Carlos Varela's song: Walls and Doors 

And....yes we did knot ropes.....but more about this in my next blog about the #Tribe17 exhibition at The Oxo Bargehouse in October.

With thanks to :

                          Lisa Kreuziger

                          Simon Cole

                          Paul Wade

                          Sandy Wade

                          Travis Moore 

                          Carlos Lins (Director Espacio gallery) 

                          Ahmed Farooqui (Degrees of Freedom, curator of Brexitopia)

                          Esperanza Gomez - Carrera (Degrees of Freedom)

                          Lizzie Brown  (artist and gallery invigilator on the day)

                          David and Marianne (from Pavement Pounders Folkestone, who were 

                                                               thwarted by transport problems in their

                                                             attempt to join us! but were with us in spirit)

                          Anastasia Miller,  PHOTOGRAPHER,  for walking, interacting getting

                                                        soaked and... taking great photos!