Lucy Wheeler, Education Assistant, Kettle’s Yard writes:
This collaboration between Kettle’s Yard and Cam Sight has been running for over four years. We run these sessions outside of our public opening hours so we have exhibitions and collections to ourselves to hope to promote a relaxed and stress-free experience to ensure that participants can really enjoy and feel at ease in the spaces away from potential distractions.
Earlier this year we explored the Katie Paterson exhibition, focussing on the Fossil Necklace that was installed in St Peter’s Church. The piece was made up of over 170 beads intricately carved from fossils that Katie Paterson sourced from all over the globe. Passing around a replica necklace of the piece, we discussed how each bead represented a major event in the evolution of life on earth. We imagined what certain creatures, such as a lungfish, would have looked like and marveled at evolutions in nature, including the first flowering of flowers. We went onto a practical chalk-carving and clay moulding workshop with artist Filipa Pereira-Stubbs, where we discussed the natural materials over a cup of tea. Becky Cawdry, the Cam Sight Communications Officer said that the practical elements of the workshops have been highly rewarding for participants: ‘The tactile workshops are loved by the group. Touch is vital – object handling and creating pieces of work with such materials as clay and chalk are an essential part of the stimulating, thought provoking workshops.’
On other visits, we have used the House as a starting point for the session. I have lead tours concentrating of specific rooms in the House, outlining the environment in layers: from the architectural layout and the distinct furniture to individual objects and their eclectic arrangement. Becky has said that the group really enjoy spending time in the House; ‘it is a very unique sensory experience. It has its own distinct smell and noises and offers a very relaxed, secure sanctuary to people with little or no sight. To have the exhibitions explained and described in such detail and depth by a professional really adds to the mental picture. For example, relating size to a body part (say the arm) allows the visually impaired person their understanding and concept of the work and the idea of shape.’ We went onto a practical workshop exploring Jim’s curation of his domestic home, starting with a discussion personal objects which each participant brought in. For example Warren brought in a goal ball and told us about his favourite sport and Jerry brought in a bike wheel hub as he enjoys constructing bikes from scratch. We then created drawings and then used these, our objects and other handling objects to ‘curate’ a scene on boards.
These sessions are always full of intriguing discussions, as well as a lot of laughter. It has been a pleasure to get to know the group and I have continually enjoyed seeing the range of artworks created in these sessions. On behalf of Kettle’s Yard, I would like to thank Becky Cawdry and Filipa Pereira-Stubbs for their hard work and support towards this programme and we look forward to continuing working with Cam Sight in the New Year.
Image: Jim Ede's bedroom table (www.kettlesyard.co.uk)
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