The Mosses and Marshes project reaches a peak of activity in 2021 with an exciting schedule of public events, walks and talks, and exhibitions including:
- Mosses and Marshes exhibition of work by Andrew Howe and Kim V. Goldsmith at Qube Oswestry (1st – 30th October)
- peat – surface – sky: an exhibition by Wem Youth Club featuring three 7m long banners and other artworks, including prints by Andrew Howe and works by Sue Challis (15th Sept to 30th October)
- Art Trail of sounds and sculpture at the Marches Mosses to end October
- Wem Sound Trail
- Mosses and Marshes project book launch (October)
- Artist talk (14th October)
- International online panel discussion “Alternative ways of understanding and valuing special environments to help shape their future”
All dates and details for these and other events in both the UK and Australia are listed below.
If you take part in any of the Mosses and Marshes activities as visitor to the wetland sites or exhibitions, workshop participant, artist or project partner, we would love to hear your thoughts. Your feedback will really help us to document the impact of the project and improve future events. Please click below to complete the short survey questionnaire. Many thanks for you time!
Mosses and Marshes exhibition
1st to 30th October 2021
Qube Gallery, Oswestry
An exhibition of individual and collaborative work by artists Andrew Howe and Kim V. Goldsmith comprising:
- 16 minute video in 10 chapters with soundscapes created by Kim V. Goldsmith
- Collaborative video The Tone of Things
- Collaborative spoken word piece I am Walking
- Canvases by Andrew Howe using inks/prints made from natural materials gathered at the Mosses
- Prints and handmade paper collages by Andrew Howe.
Oswald Road, Oswestry
Shropshire, SY11 1RB
Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm
Sat 9:30am – 12:30pm
Admission: Free
Mosses and Marshes book
A publication about the Mosses and Marshes project will be launched at the start of the Qube exhibition. The book goes beyond the artworks and allows the two collaborating artists to expand on the various themes of their research in the wetlands in texts and an array of beautiful images.
Edited by Dr Liz Charpleix, with a foreword by Dave Pritchard (Ramsar Culture Network), the book features contributions from curators Gudrun Filipska (UK), Jamie Lea Trindall (AUS), ecological, environmental and cultural writings by Tim Hosking, Fleur and Laurance Magick Denis of Milan Dhiiyaan, Sooty Welsh (Wayilwan Elder/artist), Cathie Sleigh (Shropshire Wildlife Trust), Robert Duff (Natural England), and many other project partners and people from the communities around the Mosses and Marshes who have been generous with their time in engaging with the project.
The book will be on sale in UK at £15 (+P+P). Further details to follow.
peat – surface – sky
15th September to 1st November 2021
Exhibition at Wem Town Hall exhibition
An exhibition of:
- fantastic display of three 7m long banners and other artworks made by Wem Youth Club inspired by visits to Whixall Moss with artists Kate Johnston, Sue Challis, Andrew Howe and Anna Martin of Shropshire Wildlife Trust
- prints inspired by the Mosses by Andrew Howe
- displays about the Marches Mosses BogLIFE project by Shropshire Wildlife Trust/Natural England
There will be an open event at the Gallery on Tuesday 19th October, which will also include a showing of a short film made by MediaActive Projects CIC documenting the project with Wem Youth Club and the making of the banners.
Further details to plan your visit at Wem Town Hall
Summer/Autumn 2021
Art Trail
An Art Trail featuring sculptures and sounds of the Mosses and Marshes was launched at Fenn’s and Whixall Moss at the beginning of July 2021, and will be available until the end of October 2021. Before the temporary sculptures are taken off site, you are invited to visit the Art Trail and meet the artists involved 11am to 3pm Sat 30th October. For full details and how to access the Art Trail.
The soundscapes were edited by Andrew Howe and Kim V. Goldsmith and feature sound recordings of wildlife, water and trees, poetry, history and memories of life on and around the peatbog.
The sculptures were created by artists, Elizabeth Turner and Keith Ashford. Read more.
International Discussion Panel
11th November 2021
Further details of panelists and booking information will be available here from 30th September.
Un-Boxing an Arts Territory Exchange touring exhibition
Un-boxing was initially organised Gudrun Filipska, Caroline Kelley, Lenka Clayton and Carly Butler and comprises art works from across the world travelling in a box for display at a number of domestic and alternative locations, curated and interacted with by a range of artists, curators and archivists along its journey.
The touring exhibition includes work by Marina Amaral, Hana Wilde, Laura Copsey, Martin Dixon, Sydney Lancaster, Vicki Piersig, Michelle Kohler, Diane Eagles, Andrew Howe, Kim V Goldsmith, Reb Green and her students at MICA, Georgina Reskala, Lizzy Sampson, Sarah le Quang Sang, Roelnant Meijer, Sarah Scaife, Alisa Oleva, Imi Maufe, Hannah Stageman, Anette Friedrich Johannessen, Carly Butler, Emily Van Lidth de Jeude, Caro Williams, Romina Cristi, Elisabeth Elegeert, Leonie Andrews, Sarah Basha, Jessica Longmore, Laurel Terleski, Sara Trillo, and Jessie Pangas.
Un-Boxing began in mid-May 2021 in Cambridgeshire (England) with aTE founder, Gudrun Filipska. Other venues for Un-Boxing will include Anglesey (Wales), Suffolk (England), Versailles (France), Saint Croix de Mareuil (France), and Copenhagen (Denmark). The second stage of Un-Boxing will take a more experimental form, developing its own network of hosts around a series of anchor locations including The Maryland Institute College of Art, Pittsburgh (USA), Pensylvania (USA), Pender Island (Canada), and Vancouver Island (Canada). You’ll find updates on the touring works on aTE’s Instagram account.
Using elements of their research on the Mosses and Marshes project, Kim V. Goldsmith and Andrew Howe produced a set of special edition art cards with a mix of photographs, prints, rubbings, handmade papers, text and sound (using QR codes), presented in a customised box made of handmade papers by Andrew.
The artworks focus on themes of language, accessibility, hidden elements and imprints, whilst also playing with the ideas of ‘un-boxing’ suggested in the exhibition brief. Revealing what is not normally experienced in the landscape is a key part of the Mosses + Marshes project, whether that be sounds, layered histories, or night time experiences. QR code links to sounds further extend the sense of anticipation and revelation.
Early half of 2022
Australian exhibitions and public programming continues with events at:
- M16 Artspace, Canberra
- Outback Arts Gallery, Coonamble, NSW
Past Events
The Future of Wetlands webinar, 25th March 2021
An event hosted online by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). Andrew Howe presented a talk about the Mosses and Marshes project and arts and science collaborations. Robert Duff, project manager for Natural England gave a talk about the BogLIFE peatbog regeneration project and there followed a Q&A discussion chaired by Dave Pritchard, chair of CIWEM’s Art and Environment Network and chair of the Ramsar Culture Network
You can watch a recording of the webinar here:
Feb 2nd 2021 – World Wetlands Day
A joint launch of the project in Australia (via ecopulse.art) and UK on this website and social media with a promo video and a taster video of the collaborative artwork being created by Andrew Howe and Kim V. Goldsmith.
In the Media
The project has already featured in radio broadcasts on BBC Radio Shropshire and in New South Wales, Australia, and in local press. The project is attracting attention from environmental practitioners and related organisations.
We were delighted to be invited to contribute an article in the February 2021 edition of The Environment, the magazine for the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management. Read it via the link below:
The project also featured in the April 2021 edition of The Royal Horticultural Society’s magazine “The Garden”, alongside an informative article about using peat-free compost.
