Our From Scotland To Corby project has seen two Scottish artists travel to Corby to work with communities in the town, exploring cultural shifts that take place when people relocate.
Artist in residence throughout August, David Blyth has been working with the Friends of Hazel and Thoroughsale Woods to develop a project that celebrates the cultural heritage and wildlife of Corby’s urban woodland, exploring the forest environment as a communal place for the production of value, meaning and knowledge in people’s lives – a cooperative partnership aiming to add value to the users and the woodland itself, using close observation of natural phenomena to offer guidance and advice for overcoming challenges we face in contemporary life.
Working with the volunteers David has been actively litter picking in the woods, what he refers to as “the art of maintenance”, before recycling the litter into hand made paper. The intention is that this will begin an enterprise for the Woodland volunteers, with the artisan paper being sold at East Carlton Countryside Park.
Watch a video and Listen to David Blyth’s interview with BBC Radio Northampton below.
Throughout September our second artist in residence, Roddy Buchanan, is working with Celtic and Rangers Supporters Clubs based in Corby. Once home to the largest Rangers supporters group outside of Glasgow, owing to the migration of Scottish workers to the former steel works in Corby, this unique football related identity is now increasingly ephemeral. Roderick is creating new work to document this phenomena exploring identities and ideas that change and persist.
Listen to Roddy’s interview with BBC Radio Northampton below.