Driving from Cambridge across the Fens is a mind-opening experience as the skies spread bright and wide on all sides. But the sudden view of Ely Cathedral apparently floating above the trees in the distance – the Ship of Fens, as it is called – is startling. For a moment, it looks like a truck or a shed, until you realise the scale of what you are looking at. It is enormous and alone in a landscape of flat fields. Like Howl’s Castle it seems to have been spirited there by a magical force, but it is actually the summation of the work of thousands of people across the centuries – many of whom were supremely talented craftspeople.
I was headed to this tiny city of only 20,000 people to collaborate with an artist and musician living locally (Hazel Keelan) and a generous local gallery (Babylon Arts) that had kindly given us space for an experimental exhibition on hopeful responses to the crises assailing us today. Titled “Pandora’s Box“, this week of displays and activities included a talk on Maria Van Frappe and Madame Tussaud, the communal painting of a nature wall, a poetry evening on climate change (cheery stuff) and a premiere of a classical piece of music by a Hong Kong composer played simultaneously live and virtually.
Researching the background to the infamous box-opening by the feckless woman in the Greek myth (do I sense a repeating popular theme here?) I was interested to learn three things:
- the box was actually a jar from the Greek “pythos”
- Pandora probably emerged from an earlier earth mother goddess in matriarchal times
- it might have been her husband or even a passing god who opened it
Responding to things that felt important resulted in a set of animal protest masks made by our local Extinction rebellion group in Wiveliscombe, collages on sugar and its birth in slavery, ceramic tree gods, scrolls of hope made from pianola papers, and a whole bunch of litter hung from branches.
Slightly wary of the response from a rural and probably conservative community, the week was a delight. A wide range of people came in, spoke with us about the issues covered, painted on our nature wall (including a fabulous eel), listened to music, sang, tried on animal masks, danced and generally interacted in a hopeful and generous way. Thank you to Ely and to all our visitors.
