Launch exhibition:  16th Nov.2024 - 29th March, in the Peterborough museum

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Imagine if a field could tell a story, sing a song, paint a picture? What might it be and who would be able to hear, see or translate the living breathing life of the field?

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We (Jeni & Karen) have invited 8 creatives to spend time deeply listening to and visioning with a very special field. The field in question has been farmed by Jeni’s family who have grown a variety of crops on it over the years, and has since been planted with a wild flower mix and after a few months it is already bursting with life. Kestrels, buzzards, red kites, tawny and little owls now hunt over the field such is the diversity and abundance of life that is starting to be born.

The rich ecosystem that is starting to take root in the field in terms of plants birds mammals and insects stands out like a beacon of hope against the backdrop of monoculture crops that surround it. An oasis of hope amongst a landscape, that has been pushed into artificially producing ever more, with the aid of fertilisers and pesticides, resulting in impoverished ecosystems that will take time to recover. 

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However, surface appearances are only one way of experiencing the field, and the artists have each been chosen for their ability and experience of being able to go beyond the surface and into a much deeper level of relationship and interpretation. 

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David Wege is a professional animal tracker and as thus is able to read the land with all it's tell signs, in ways that the casual observer will miss. 

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Artist Paul Bloomer holds an animistic world view that posits  everything is alive and sentient and as such is full of spirit and open to relationship.

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Composer Kate Stilitz uses her emotional response to stories from the natural world to create music or visual art. She will be listening deeply to the field and the dynamic interaction between music, movement, visual art and spoken word.

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Caroline Ross is an expert in natural materials for art and has the knowledge and experience to turn aspects of the field, such as specific plants, and underlying geology into creative materials that are charged with the very spirit of the field itself.

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The land holds memories of what has gone before.  If a field can have such a thing as a memory…it stretches back beyond a human conception of time, to millennia, that has seen this land both as ocean, lake and forest with creatures here that we can only but imagine, but whose energetic footprints still reside.    

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The imaginal field will challenge and expand on our conception of land, in terms of how do we as humans relate to the land, not for our own gain, but in terms of honouring the very sanctity of the land itself. 

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Land that has value of itself beyond any concept of human ownership or profit. The land is made up of multiple interconnected threads, each unique with individual stories, lives and needs,  but taken as a whole we have a dynamic tapestry with stories within stories within stories. 

The imaginal field project invites both artists and scientists to humbly submit themselves to the field and allow the field to become the teacher.  

This project has the potential to rethink what is possible and live on the land in ways that are far more in balance with the needs of the land itself.  

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The imaginal field is a project for our times. Times that have seen an ever greater chasm between humanity and the natural world with disastrous consequences in terms of mass extinction of species, and climate breakdown. 

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The imaginal field offers a chance to redress some of the wrongs we have done to the land with the potential to have a reach far greater than its own boundaries.

If the field could tell us how it would like to live, what might it tell us?

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The Imaginal Field exhibition, launches a transformative year of eight artist residencies, gatherings, workshops and events on the field. The year will end with an exhibition of the findings, learnings and revelations.

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In the launch exhibition you can experience connection through the eyes of our commissioned artists and try some of the immersive experiences we will be bringing to the field. By walking the labyrinth or stepping into our journey hut, we open the door to ancient practices that honour and listen to the earth.

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Through The Imaginal Field, we hope to inspire both new and ancestral ways of connecting, that foster mutual respect, balance, and harmony with nature.

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Learn about our ongoing project and discover exciting ways to participate and connect here on this page.

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This project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council. 

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