Ernie’s Journey is a magical circus theatre adventure for family audiences. The seamless integration of circus, physical theatre, stage magic, poetry and puppetry is a truly dazzling spectacle.
An original live harp score takes the tale from the dreamy realms of distant shores to the most raucous sea shanties!
It felt like nobody really believed in Ernie and sometimes he wondered whether he even believed in himself. He discovers that being himself and following his own dreams can lead to all kinds of wild adventures, but it is the people we love who make it all worth it.
This show has been designed to connect audiences with the waterways around where they live and how they feed into national and international ocean systems. Ernie is a young boy from Haringey who finds an old pirate ship on the banks of the Thames.
Our partnership with Somerset Wildlife trust has informed the content of the show and workshops.
Suitable for ages 4-11
Two shows: 11am and 2pm
60 minutes each!
Brain Fools pride themselves on being an environmentally conscious, family-friendly circus show that you can enjoy as much as your kids do. They are also committed to highlighting issues surrounding homelessness and migration in London through their work — they want everyone to learn, and everyone to be part of the change they want to see in their communities.
The show is called Lucky Pigeons because it’s about how hard it can be for people living on the street, but also because it’s about how much hope there can be for them too. Through physical performance and social commentary, they will take you on a journey through different aspects of life as a person on the outskirts of society—from the challenges they face just trying to fit in and be accepted, all the way through finding love and happiness despite everything else going on around them.
Lucky Pigeons came to Jacksons Lane in October 2021 as a work-in-progress.
Nathaniel Boyd a British-Australian artist born and brought up in Highgate, presents a show of glowing still lives set in dreamscape worlds, and fine, plein air landscapes. Through the medium of oil, Boyd enters a performative state, drawn from his work as a classical cellist, to create work with transformative emotional power and lasting impact.
Nathaniel Boyd a British-Australian artist born and brought up in Highgate, presents a show of glowing still lives set in dreamscape worlds, and fine, plein air landscapes. Through the medium of oil, Boyd enters a performative state, drawn from his work as a classical cellist, to create work with transformative emotional power and lasting impact.
Think about a classroom. How is everyone sat? Everyone is sat at their desks, facing the same way. What is left deals with spatial structures that shape human communication culture. We see it in theatres, while waiting to be served at counters, the hierarchy in a courtroom, in school and church, as well as from advertising screens in underground stations. All these spaces not only demand, but also structure the gaze attention of bodies in space.
International award-winning dance and circus company Overhead Project bring their new show What is Left to the UK. Mixing contemporary dance with group acrobatics, the show explores our relationship with different spaces and how they influence our communication.
Reminiscent of a catwalk or military parade, five performers occupy the space and are simultaneously consumed by it. A rhythmic, energetic, sometimes intimate, and exhilarating performance.
Contains: nudity
Think about a classroom. How is everyone sat? Everyone is sat at their desks, facing the same way. What is left deals with spatial structures that shape human communication culture. We see it in theatres, while waiting to be served at counters, the hierarchy in a courtroom, in school and church, as well as from advertising screens in underground stations. All these spaces not only demand, but also structure the gaze attention of bodies in space.
International award-winning dance and circus company Overhead Project bring their new show What is Left to the UK. Mixing contemporary dance with group acrobatics, the show explores our relationship with different spaces and how they influence our communication.
Reminiscent of a catwalk or military parade, five performers occupy the space and are simultaneously consumed by it. A rhythmic, energetic, sometimes intimate, and exhilarating performance.
Contains: nudity
Expect a heady mix of love, drugs and Islam. This unique and complex take on circus, performed on two Chinese poles, is emotionally candid with moments of humour and joy set to a banging soundtrack.
The Chosen Haram deals with themes of sexuality, faith, addiction and connection. The story of two gay men and their chance meeting through a dating app, portraying the highs and lows of their relationship and the barriers they face, social, cultural and personal in seeking happiness and personal fulfilment.
The Chosen Haram is based on a combination of lead artist Sadiq Ali’s personal experience, as well as interviews with members of the LGBTQ+ community who identify as (ex) Muslim. The show is an exploration into the personal struggles faced by many people whose upbringing contradicts their personal truths, and how this can lead to self-destructive behaviour.
Something that is “Haram” is forbidden by Islam.
The Chosen Haram returns to Jacksons Lane following it’s sell out run in February 2022 as part of the London International Mime Festival.
s.o.l.o, which stands for Situations of Ones Life’s Obsessions, is a multimedia, and multi-discipline, circus theatre performance which creates a moment which we all experience together.
Australia-born and Belgium-based performer Simon-James Reynolds initially trained as a gymnast, working towards the Olympics. But in the run up to London 2012, a change in his family’s financial circumstances meant he had to set those dreams aside. Based on Simon-James’ personal experiences, s.o.l.o depicts a life, its struggles, losses and hopes that we must all face: solo.
Sur Mesure is a collective of musicians, instrument makers, woodworkers and circus performers. Together they work on new creations. The collective consists of making performances, but they also have a wood workshop where all kinds of furniture are made.
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Guerrilla Gardening
Events 2023
Sat 22nd April: 2:30-4pm: Meet at Jacksons Lane Community Centre, N6 5AA
to help with their garden (EARTH DAY EVENT)
Mon 8th May (bank holiday): 2:30-4pm: Meet outside 10A South Grove, N6 6BS to garden in Pond Square
(BIG HELP OUT EVENT)
July, September, October and November events: Details to be confirmed. We
are happy to assist other groups in starting up clean-up events in their local
areas of Highgate, as we did last year. Please let us know!
We will provide rubbish bags and a limited number of gardening tools.
Please bring protective gloves, secateurs and forks if you have these.
From the peaceful pleasures of Ratty’s beloved river bank to the fearful frights and wicked weasels of the Wild Wood, join Mole and Ratty on their marvellous adventures, along with gruff old Badger and magnificent Mr. Toad.
“Their beautifully crafted micro-shows are like collector’s items.” The Stage
A beautiful new adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s much-loved classic by award winning theatre company Box Tale Soup, featuring wonderful puppetry, innovative theatre and a charming original score.
“They are wonderful.” The Times
Suitable for ages 4+
Two shows: 11 am and 2pm
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
When Belle is feeling down she slips into her grandfather’s basement and discovers his old dusty instruments. But far from being junk, the Instrumentals are pure funk, and they teach Belle to ‘get down’ in a whole new way. Bursting to life with brilliant puppetry and bold music, The Instrumentals is full of love and laughter, about the memories we hold and how we celebrate life.
This is a show for all children with characters, story and inspiration from the African-Caribbean diaspora. It’s full of uplifting original music with soulful sounds and seventies grooves. Combined with innovative puppetry and lots of comedy, this fun musical journey will have audiences dancing in the aisles!
Suitable for ages 4+
Two shows at 11 am and 2 pm.
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Tom Scase
A restless mind at work and play
Highgate Gallery: 21 April – 4 May
Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the Eugenia Alekseyev exhibition, Highgate Gallery is pleased to announce that artist Tom Scase will show in her place.
A restless mind at work and play.
The exhibition will feature unseen archive work alongside recent insights. Scase employs joyful use of colour juxtaposed with sinister undertones that call into question our perception of space and relationship with nature, through drawing, painting, photography and collage. Tom’s work is organic and rhythmic. A restless mind at work and play provides a rare opportunity to see how connections evolve.
Highgate Gallery at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
Open: Wedneseday – Friday: 13.00 17.00
Saturday: 11.00 – 16.00
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00
11 South Grove
London N6 6BS
020 8340 3343
Guest speaker: Dan Carrier
Journalist for the Camden New Journal
and previously for the Guardian and
Evening Standard. He is author of Untold
London: Stories from Time Trodden
Streets, Doctor Zipp’s Amazing
Octo-Com and his recent book Locks,
Bolts and Bars – a Life Inside. In his
spare time he is a DJ for Boogaloo Radio.
Doors open at 6.45pm and the meeting will commence at 7pm
ADMISSION FREE
Members and non-members welcome
Jacksons Lane,
269a Archway Road, London N6 5AA
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00,
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 12 May 2023 18:00-20:30
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00,
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 12 May 2023 18:00-20:30
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00,
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 12 May 2023 18:00-20:30
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00,
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 12 May 2023 18:00-20:30
One to one help with computers tablets and phones!
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00,
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 12 May 2023 18:00-20:30
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00,
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 12 May 2023 18:00-20:30
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00,
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 12 May 2023 18:00-20:30
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00,
Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 12 May 2023 18:00-20:30
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Check opening times on website
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Highgate Gallery – Heather Libson – The World Slips By
Check opening times on website
Expressed with positivity and a lightness of touch, this exhibition is a reflection of the artist’s concern with impermanence and her own mortality. The paintings in the series, The World Slips By are a travelogue of time, sensation, memory and place. They are a skilful synthesis of freshness and vibrancy, experience and restraint
Heather Libson is an artist who lives and works in East London.
Maggie Jennings: Verdance at the Highgate Gallery
These vibrant drawings and paintings from nature are active celebrations of the energy and urgency of life, and life’s transformation and decay. They develop themes from Jennings successful show at Highgate Gallery 5 years ago. The shock of Covid lockdown caused the artist to experience both claustrophobia and a liberating freedom from established routine. She spent time sketching her garden’s wild proliferation; the mass and tangle of plant growth studied up-close giving rise to a wealth of visual information, resulting in some paintings being worked like tapestry. These shown alongside her delicate prints of individual plant studies.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00, Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 09 June 2023 18:00-20:30
Maggie Jennings: Verdance at the Highgate Gallery
These vibrant drawings and paintings from nature are active celebrations of the energy and urgency of life, and life’s transformation and decay. They develop themes from Jennings successful show at Highgate Gallery 5 years ago. The shock of Covid lockdown caused the artist to experience both claustrophobia and a liberating freedom from established routine. She spent time sketching her garden’s wild proliferation; the mass and tangle of plant growth studied up-close giving rise to a wealth of visual information, resulting in some paintings being worked like tapestry. These shown alongside her delicate prints of individual plant studies.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00, Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 09 June 2023 18:00-20:30
Save the date for this wonderful event.
Maggie Jennings: Verdance at the Highgate Gallery
These vibrant drawings and paintings from nature are active celebrations of the energy and urgency of life, and life’s transformation and decay. They develop themes from Jennings successful show at Highgate Gallery 5 years ago. The shock of Covid lockdown caused the artist to experience both claustrophobia and a liberating freedom from established routine. She spent time sketching her garden’s wild proliferation; the mass and tangle of plant growth studied up-close giving rise to a wealth of visual information, resulting in some paintings being worked like tapestry. These shown alongside her delicate prints of individual plant studies.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00, Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 09 June 2023 18:00-20:30
Maggie Jennings: Verdance at the Highgate Gallery
These vibrant drawings and paintings from nature are active celebrations of the energy and urgency of life, and life’s transformation and decay. They develop themes from Jennings successful show at Highgate Gallery 5 years ago. The shock of Covid lockdown caused the artist to experience both claustrophobia and a liberating freedom from established routine. She spent time sketching her garden’s wild proliferation; the mass and tangle of plant growth studied up-close giving rise to a wealth of visual information, resulting in some paintings being worked like tapestry. These shown alongside her delicate prints of individual plant studies.
Wednesdays to Fridays 13:00-17:00, Saturdays 11:00-16:00 Sundays 11:00-17:00, Mondays & Tuesdays Closed
Private View: Friday 09 June 2023 18:00-20:30
Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution and LUX present Psychosomatic, a film performance by Richard Layzell as part of the Highgate Festival
Psychosomatic is a new work by artist Richard Layzell, his first feature length film and his 101st performance, using material gathered over a seven-year research period including as creative ecologist based at LUX in Waterlow Park.
Psychosomatic follows an intuitive approach to ecology and art practice, where expectations are confounded and accidents become central to the narrative. As this unfolds, through the voice of Kino Paxton, a (fictional) maverick environmentalist, so does the incalculable grief and loss of First Nations peoples in their relationship to land and the natural world, with their holistic philosophy that predates the Deep Ecology of Arne Naess (Norway) and the Fragments of Heraclitus (Ancient Greece).
Geographies linked to these two philosophers are also explored: the site of the first ever eco-action at Mardalsfossen and the birthplace of Heraclitus in Ephesus. A chance hearing of composer Hollis Taylor speaking on the World Service about the song of the pied butcherbird leads to a meeting in Alice Springs. Oranges drop from street trees in Selcuk outside a supermarket that has no oranges, while the two oranges left as offerings to Artemis at the temple should have been pomegranates. The slope elevates the automobile to a higher plane, up where the action is, and in Montreal the highway concrete crumbles and falls onto car roofs.
There’s an enormity to the scale of this work that’s both impressive and absurd. And this reach was never envisaged at the start. Beginning in the back streets of New Malden in 2017 and concluding with a return visit to Ephesus in 2022, the film crosses five continents, and becomes a record of the artist as traveller, performer, photographer, and hearer of voices.
To mark the upcoming screening of ‘Psychosomatic’, we are pleased to bring back Layzell’s 2021 film ‘Marvell Park’ online for a month.
Tracking the extraordinary ups and downs of 2020, ‘Marvell Park’ is a playful and personal meditation on a state of being, of how to move and interact with nature and the space of the park in a time when the world was so tangibly in flux. It takes a long view of the changing seasons and the puzzling activities of humans and other wildlife.
Richard Layzell has worked with most of the major UK public galleries and museums. He is a writer, performer, sculptor, filmmaker and the author of Enhanced Performance (ed Deborah Levy) and Cream Pages (ed Joshua Sofaer). After an extended period as an artist in industry, in the role of ‘visionaire’, he fed this experience back into the public sector, working with many diverse communities nationally and internationally.
www.thenaming.org @Layzell_Paxton