Photographs from the exhibition

Kestle Barton hosts weekend of activities

Kestle Barton, an ancient Cornish farmstead situated above the Helford River in Manaccan, will become the backdrop to an exhibition of local farming photographs & films and weekend of activities.

‘This Land’ will run over the weekend of the 31 August - 1 September from 10:30am-5pm each day and is free and open to everybody.

This event is the result of a collaboration between Kestle Barton and the Institute of Cornish Studies (ICS), based at the University of Exeter, Penryn campus, through the projectTallys an Tir – Traditions & Stories of the Land.’

Over the weekend, Kestle Barton will be showcasing a range of films and photographs produced and collected by a group local to Kestle Barton. There will also be a series of films made with local primary schools, inspired by farming stories. Sarah Chapman, who is leading the ‘Tallys an Tir’ project, says: “the group that we have been working with here have put in a lot of hard work over the past year, carrying out interviews with local people, and making these into a series of short films. The group has also brought together some amazing old photographs of the area, as well as a few more surprises that will be on show over the weekend. We are all really excited to see it all come together.”

A series of activities will run over the weekend. These will include an art workshop for families (11am Saturday), a performance of ‘Keskerdh An Kammva Dro’ (Procession around the Turnstile) by artist Julia Giles (midday- Saturday) and a film screening (2pm-Saturday).

As part of the event there will be a range of photographs of local farming families taken over the 1990s by fourth generation Helston based vet John Head. The project ‘Tallys an Tir’ has been able to help John scan over 200 of his negatives, preserving these as valuable records of the time. The photographs themselves are beautifully taken and show a very natural relaxed view of farming in the Lizard area from the 1990s. Accompanying these photos will be a short film, featuring local farmers reminiscing about some of the characters that appear in the images.

Curatorial Director of Kestle Barton, Dr.Ryya Bread, explains:“A strong strand of our programme is to show work that relates to the farm and its place in some important way. This is open to many interpretations and different forms, including extending our relationship to growers and other land users as well as artists. On the Sunday of the 'This Land’ event, we also look forward to Paul Chaney, an Artist in Residence for 2013, introducing and implementing his ‘fieldmachine’ at Kestle Barton: an interactive computer programme that maps potential land use from information about food values and the desires of individual participants.”

 ‘Tallys an Tir; Traditions & Stories of the Land’ has been working around Cornwall to record and share rural memories. The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund with additional support from FEAST Cornwall. All dates and details of events can be viewed at Cornish Stories.

Date: 23 August 2013

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