Feeling oversaturated?
Would you like to join me in search of queer resilience, at the bog? I am a multi-sensory artist currently undertaking a residency with Natur am Byth, to look at secretive species living on the fringe in the Swansea Bay Area. During my research, I have fallen for some unlikely friends, the Narrow Mouthed Whorl Snail and Fen Raft Spider, and have discovered an incredible new habitat, Crymlyn Bog.
These species and place have been through a lot and are often overlooked and misunderstood. I would like to share the gentle care and appreciation I have for them with you.
I invite you to participate in three workshops that explore queer, ecological resilience and belonging in times of oversaturation. The sessions will explore inter-species care and ways of embodying place. Together, we will create invitations for ourselves and others on how we can hide away in this Swansea habitat to thrive. Through learning to care for the bog, we can learn to care for ourselves.
No knowledge of art is required, this is a very supportive space that only requests a willingness for you to get involved. Workshops are for LGBTQIA+ folk and are free. Our time together will influence the final artwork I create for the project. Your participation and the community we build during this time is hugely appreciated.
With love from the bog,
Vivian <3
P.S. no real life spiders will be seen on our visit, promise.
Sun 12 Jan 2025, 11am - 1pm, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
A session to meet, get us thinking, and learn about the project, species and habitats. Together, we will play with themes of queer resilience, belonging and habitat oversaturation. We will learn about queer nature and ecology and imagine gentle futures. There will of course be cake and a lot of tea too.
Sun 19 Jan 2025, 11am - 3pm, Crymlyn bog with mini-bus pick up from Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
Did you know there's a 300 hectare quaking bog in Swansea? This site is a mystery to so many Swansea residents, tucked away behind Amazon, next to an old oil refinery, bombed in the war, this is the ultimate secretive site of resilience. As we explore the area, Vivian will lead a workshop for us to find ways of embodying place and making offerings to this habitat.
Sun 26 Jan 2025, 11am - 1pm, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
This session gives us a chance to reflect on our site visit and pull together what we have learnt into art work. Vivian is writing a series of performance invitations throughout this project, your ideas and reflections will become part of the final work, if you choose.
Ideally participants will commit to all three sessions, however this is not essential for participation.
---
This is a site-specific project run by Vivian Ross-Smith as part of her residency with Natur am Byth! This public programming engages LGBTQIA+ communities with Secretive Species that are often overlooked and unloved living between urban and rural areas in the Swansea Bay area.
This project is made possible through support and funding from Natural Resources Wales, Addo Creative, Bug Life, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council Wales.
