Roseland

Roseland in Russia

I have been working on a new direction for Roseland. I had a number of plans that never took shape over the winter due to events beyond my control. In the darkest, deepest winter I received an email out of the blue from an artist, Henri Grahn, who invited me to take part in Dialogi, the international Biennale of Contemporary Art held at the Manezh Gallery in St Petersburg, Russia. My wish is to work with another artist who is based in Shetland, Susan Timmins, to realise a participatory project that includes people in Shetland and St Petersburg. I plan to invite people to make roses in both Shetland and St Petersburg and then swap them. Susan has a clothes pegs project that has been going a long time. She even has clothes pegs from St Petersburg that I brought her in 2005.

1,100 Rosebuds

I am writing from the village of Newlyn in Cornwall. It is a busy fishing port, but it also is famous for its association with artists. In May 2004 I realised a project called 1,100 Rosebuds at Newlyn Art Gallery. I realise it is the first time that I invited members of the public to make roses.

Visitors to the gallery, pupils from local schools and members of community groups made 1,100 tin rosebuds over the course of one week. We used tin because the tin mining industry formed an important part of Cornwall's industrial heritage which has died out. On the last day the installation was complete, and everyone was invited to return to take their rosebuds away as a memento of their experience and a reminder of the story of the Rosebud and its contemporary relevance.

The story of the Rosebud fishing boat is very famous in Newlyn, and there are a number of reminders. In 1937 the Rosebud sailed up the Thames River in London with eight Newlyn fishermen on board, to take a petition to the Government, protesting against the demolition of their homes.

For the exhibition I also made fortyeight embossed tin plaques, recounting the story of the Rosebud which we hung in the ground floor gallery space. They contained texts taken with permission from Michael Sagar-Fenton’s book about the Rosebud, excerpts from personal letters and news clippings. Joy Batten, whose grandfather sailed on the Rosebud to Westminster, loaned a letter he wrote from London about the journey.

Visitors to this space could also listen to sound recordings of interviews with visitors to the exhibition who had a story to tell with a link to the story of The Rosebud or the issues related to regeneration, such as the fishing industry or housing. As the exhibition and event progressed over the week, local residents brought memorabilia related to the story of The Rosebud for display in this space. Raymond Peake, son of the Rosebud’s boat builder loaned photographs and a model he made of the Rosebud.

This project was a CST project supported by PALP (Artists Led Initiatives in Penwith),
Arts Council of England National Touring Programme and Southwest Arts.