Light poem spotted around Newbury
Last weekend a travelling light poem appeared around Newbury that encouraged the public to reflect on their experiences of living through a pandemic, whilst evoking hope for the future.
The outdoor art piece was presented by the Corn Exchange Newbury and 101 Outdoor Arts and Emergency Exit Arts.
Entitled Recovery Poems, the illuminated poem paused on its journey for the public to read it in locations including the Market Place, Victoria Park, West Berkshire Community Hospital, Newbury College, Newbury Racecourse and the vaccination centre, and the Tesco car park.
The poem was made up of two phrases that said ‘The surge of spring hides into the blank wood of winter now we have paused in the heartland of care, made beds of sodden earth’s mournful moss, our mortal thrum’ and ‘At what point do we fall into each other's arms and dance again loosening our shadow? We are vulnerable in this first light, but rising steady now, crowning in the new music’.
Inspired by conversations with communities, artists and poets Robert Montgomery and Deanna Rodger
created the moving outdoor art piece, which provoked questions about what we have lost as a society as we take the first tentative steps out of lockdown as well as the positive changes we can make as we recover from Covid-19.
Throughout the pandemic, the Corn Exchange and 101 Outdoor Arts have been finding ways to keep the community creative while events are not permitted. As a travelling installation, Recovery Poems offered a way to share art with local residents who spotted it as they went about their day, or enjoyed following its journey via 101 and the Corn Exchange’s social media.
Simon Chatterton, 101 Strategic Lead, said ‘It has been a strange and difficult time for so many of us. This felt like a chance to bring a small element of creativity and positivity into the lives of people in the town, at a time when so much of our usual activity has been curtailed’.
Daniel Bernstein, CEO Emergency Exit Arts, said ‘EEA are honoured to be touring Recovery Poems around the country. We have been part of the outdoor arts scene in the UK for over 40 years and we are excited to be bringing this moving new poetic piece at such an important time as collectively we try and piece our lives back together’.
Robert Montgomery, said ‘I loved writing with Deanna. A lot of us have felt very isolated over the last year. Somehow writing poetry together (even over Zoom, which is how we had to do it) created a closeness and a creative space of communion.’
Deanna Rodger, said ‘This collaborative poem began with a conversation between strangers. Robert and I, not knowing each other before, conversed specifically and candidly about where we are at now (family, work, sense of home) and where we have come from; our family history, and upbringing. This lent a consideration to our writing of 'what happens next?' How we hold this global experience, what we root it in and how we make sense of it to retell it. I hope strangers meet the Recovery poem and are encouraged by it to write and share their stories of this time’.
Recovery Poem is a partnership project between Without Walls, Emergency Exit Arts, 101 Outdoor Arts, Robert Montgomery, Deanna Rodger and Thatcham Town Council.
Photos by Angela Ward Brown.
