Object Response - Leckhampton Riots photograph
My object response are the questions I am asking about my art and art practice (see end of this post)
People living in Cheltenham hold a particular fondness for Leckhampton Hill situated to the south and south-east of Cheltenham. It is located within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
One of my regular walking routes is along the many footpaths that exist on the hill. It’s a place I love because of the flora and fauna, the geology and ancient history, the familiarity of the walk and of course the views.
It’s been interesting to read the about the events of the Leckhampton Riots of 1902 and 1906. Following the land being sold to Henry Dale in 1894 thousands of people from all walks of life opposed the cessation of public access to the hill.
Protests took many different forms including the removal of obstructive fencing, damaging property, demolishing a cottage built over access land, and setting fires.
The local MP took up the case, a petition of 9000 signatures was sent to the Home Secretary. Miss Beale, the headteacher of Cheltenham Ladies College, even instructed Dale to remove the pianos the school had hired from his firm. Additionally, ballads and poems have been written of the riots.
The public regained access to the Leckhampton Hill again in 1929 when Cheltenham Town Council purchased the land.
I’ve recently returned to some black and white collages I made at college about species local to Leckhampton Hill that are on the endangered Red List. Here are a couple of recent collages using letters from the species name of the skylark, Alauda Arvensis, which is on the Biodiversity Action Plan for Gloucestershire.
This week I’m trying to see if I can transfer laser printed photocopied text onto a monoprint using the Gelli plate. Lots of trial and error!
So, returning to the Object Response brief – I am posing myself some questions. In the current situation of climate crisis - how could my art be a form of protest? What would art as an act of protest look like in my art practice?
Good questions. Protests can be large and also so small that they are hardly recognised as protests at all but they still have power.