Babylon ARTS worked in partnership with Ely Museum, RNIB and the National Trust’s Wicken Fen Nature Reserve to deliver Inspired by Nature, made possible with the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we delivered an 18-month programme developing creative approaches that facilitate connection and engagement with nature for people with low vision, children, young people and the wider public. The programme will improve access to arts and heritage to a wider range of people and enable Babylon Gallery, Wicken Fen and Ely Museum to be welcoming, inclusive and accessible sites.
Over the duration of this 18-month programme Babylon ARTS:
- Establish a creative group comprising people with low vision and blindness in partnership with Camsight and Vision Norfolk. The group will explore the theme of nature through creative activities with support artist, and learn about the history and significance of the landscape through visits to Ely Museum and Wicken Fen, co-producing a sound artwork.
- Produce the Sensing Nature challenge: a call out to our audiences and the wider public to spend some time in nature and send us their creative responses. Selected work will be displayed in the Sensing Nature exhibition (February-March 24), curated by Babylon’s Young Associates group.
- Co-deliver public handling sessions at Ely Museum, exploring objects from the collection and responding to them creatively.
- Deliver a SEND school project that will be co-created with pupils, teachers and the wider school community.
- Deliver accessibility improvements to the Babylon Gallery.
Sensing Nature Exhibition
Sensing Nature celebrates work made with local communities who have creatively engaged with the heritage, significance and stories of the Fenland landscape. We invite you to consider the personal connections you have with nature, as you explore this digital exhibition.
Artworks include a sound installation co-produced by Composer Tom Adams and participants from Camsight and Vision Norfolk, 3D printed fossils developed through Artist Kaitlin Ferguson's engagement with teachers and pupils from Highfields Littleport Academy, and an array of drawings, sculptures and sound pieces submitted via an open call.
Sensing Nature has been curated by Basecoat Collective - a group of 15-25 year olds who initiate creative projects in collaboration with Babylon Gallery, and has been delivered in collaboration with Ely Museum, RNIB and Wicken Fen and been made possible with the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Explore our virtual exhibition below:
The Lantern Men
By Tom Adams
Narrated by Bill Walston
Contributors: Abi, Alex, Bridie, Bill, Fiona, Githa, Ian, Nicky, Paul, Penny, Savi, Sophie and Tina.
Inspired by the folklore of the Lantern Men – a mysterious white light that hovers over the fenland at night, luring wanderers into the reed beds - this sound piece is the culmination of a six-month collaboration between Composer Tom Adams and participants from the Cam Sight and Vision Norfolk community. Together they have explored Wicken Fen by boat and on foot, handled museum objects at Ely Museum, and developed songs, sonic meditations and a whistling choir in response to their experiences.
The Lantern Men intersects the tale of the untimely death of wherryman Joseph Bexfield with sonic sounds, personal reflections and field recordings made during the project, to be listened to in our contemplative Bird hide.
Find the transcript for The Lantern Men here.
Sensing Nature Open Call
In a Sensing Nature Open Call, the public were invited to try a selection of multi-sensory challenges (Listen, Touch, Look), submitting artworks that capture what nature means to people, with personal stories and connections to the Fenland landscape. A selection of pieces were included in the exhibition at Babylon Gallery, but with such a brilliant selection of work, we decided to include all of the work submitted in a virtual gallery.
Listen
For the first challenge, we asked people to share an audio recording of their personal stories or experiences with nature, or recording the sounds of the natural world around them. We compiled these to form the sound piece here:
Sensing Nature - Audio Guide
If you would like to explore the exhibition using our audio guide, you can listen to it here:
Find the transcript to the Sensing Nature Audio Guide here.
