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| a box of ancient memories |
Every
stone tells a story
Walking through the Peak District, we step on stories
that run through all the long years of human life in Britain. The stories run
still further back until the landscapes of 300 million years ago are worn
smooth by our feet
The limestone of the White Peak can tell us about ancient
seas and fabulous animals from before the days of the dinosaurs. In this
project we will explore those rocks: visiting outdoor sites, looking at fossils
and formations, building on our understanding of how those prehistoric
environments shape the landscapes around us now. We will look at the end of the
limestone days, and the climate change that shifted a world from limestone to
millstone grit
A series of public events through 2013 will invite
participants to
explore
Peak District sites where they can find
out more about local geology and the fossils contained within our rocks and the
environments where those rocks were first formed
use
different art media to apply that new
understanding to creating models of those landscapes: textiles might shape
reefs (knitting, felt, crochet and foam sculpture) and model making add
trilobites and other creatures
reflect
on the ancient climate change we see in
the transition between limestone and millstone grit and compare that to our
current circumstances
attend
indoor events in museums, libraries, and visitor
centres to look at and work with relevant
fossils in more detail
help
create bigger "Ancient Landscape" installations for touring displays in local museums, libraries and
other venues
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crocheted, knitted, modeled and made,
the beginnings of an ancient landscape |
Groups can also book
sessions and special initiatives will link groups with different experience to
share ideas and skills (eg adult knitting and crochet groups with school children,
local geology groups with the wider public). We can either come in and do
several workshops with a group or for groups with existing skills, we can
simply offer an introduction to the project, a chance to handle fossils, talk,
think and scheme wildly before letting the group let themselves plunge into
those ancient seas and bask on prehistoric beaches (and 300 million years ago
the land that would eventually become England was hovering somewhere around the
equator)
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| activities might include inventing our own ancient rockpools |
An
on-line and other media presence will keep activities accessible to everyone
encourage a wider range of people to walk across their local landscapes and to
try making their own ancient landscape models
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| a nautiloid, trapped forever in stone |
The Nautiloid image is from our main project picture by
Victoria Brown
