For this year’s inaugural Ballarat Craft & Design Week (an evolution of past year’s Craft Lab) I was invited to create a walking art experience in response to the beautifully blue exhibition of Tiffany Titshall and Jayne Newgreen, called ‘Cucoloris: No-one’s lost who finds the moon.’ Explore more here.
Ta-da! A Meander in Blue was born, a moonlit wander with creative prompts inspired by the city streets and songs of the moon, and inviting people to capture their own impressions along the way (see the blue walking drawings pictured above). The walk then led to a viewing of the exhibition and intimate artist talk. What a joy!
The wonderful Diana Paez came and took some photos for us too that I’d love to share here, and a couple of comments from participants:
“Thank you for having me! I’ve been talking about your walk all day – we definitely need more opportunities to meander in the evening, more whimsy and wonder, and more engagements with artists that feel like a warm hug. Bravo.”
“Such a beautiful beautiful experience Amy. Made me lust for art and the moon and friends and talk and song. And I had them all in such abundance!”
I was also struck by a piece I was reading soon after by UK walking artist Emily Wilkinson (check out her great podcast Desire Lines too) about a walk she had been on where “Carrying a colourfully embellished stick can only be described as a ‘statement piece’ and is a performance in itself…
I remember that I love things that break the everyday like this, little acts of creativity that bring colour and joy into an everyday where people are afraid to stand or speak out.
These moments are a gentle but oh-so-wild invitation for curiosity and finding new pathways to relate within community.”
This perfectly summed up the experience of Meander in Blue too, and a way to invite people into a different experience of the city, and of an exhibition.
Thanks and love to all who were involved! And I am available for hire to create magical walks for you too, just drop me a line.
