CHILDREN OF THE FOREST (2019)—project with STAFFORDSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST, STAFFORDSHIRE.
The Children of The Forest were a tribe of early humans, who were small in size but big in stature. They lived hidden amongst the green, and the bark, and the leaves and the trees—the forest was their home. They were the spirit of all plant, tree, creature and element, that existed in harmony within the beautiful, bountiful woodlands. When the concrete jungles appeared with their noisy and growing population, they overwhelmed the land. As the forests and woodlands shrunk, the Children of The Forest melted into the landscape, turning into invisible, intangible and ephemeral beings.
Children Of The Forest was a project with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, celebrating their fiftieth anniversary, through their first Wildchild Festival in the summer of 2019. A project involving two-hundred local children, the partnership resulted in a collaboration, Children of the Forest.
Inspired by a visit to the trust’s woodland areas, children photographed the landscape, collected botanic items, and made observational drawings of the habitat. These studies of nature (explored through printmaking, drawing, photography and sculpture) led to the construction of an installation, that would awaken the Children Of The Forest.
before the artwork was installed at the Wildchild Festival family members were invited to a school celebration event
Children created masks and poetry, so that they could become the very embodiment of the spirits, and perform inside their constructed world. The children sought to evoke the Spirits once again, so they might share the knowledge, experience and skills they possessed, before they slipped between the trees, beneath the earth and into the twilight.
Children Of The Forest involved over two-hundred children of all ages, who collaborated on a site-specific installation. Providing an inspirational arena for a performance, a small selection of children enacted their poems, declaring a connection to mother nature and evoking the spirits, for audiences visiting the Wildchild Festival.
I am the spirit of the Tree.
I am majestic and tall.
I have withered branches and dainty leaves.
My branches waving gently in the breeze.Birds build nests, insects rest, and feed on my leaves.
Leaves change colour and float to the ground.
I am the spirit of the Tree.
Further images on the Children Of The Forest exhibited at the Wolsely Centre can be found at here.
Children Of The Forest was developed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust with the following partners
The Art of Taking Part 