Offsite9: Boundary Way Project
Boundary Way Project will be presenting an outdoor exhibition that shines a spotlight on the allotment and its community. Featuring work by artists and community groups the show will highlight the importance of nature for wellbeing. It will explore the value of nature connection and green spaces during a climate and environmental emergency. We spoke to Creative Producer Moya Lloyd to find out more.
Can you explain your connection to Boundary Way Project?
I created Boundary Way Project in collaboration with plot-holders, artists and communities about five years ago. I work as a freelance creative producer and I’ve been developing and managing a series of projects there over the past six years. I’ve secured funding and partnerships to support research, education and creative work with an aim to sustain the site and its biodiversity as well as supporting arts and education in Wolverhampton and the wider region.
What importance do you attach to allotments?
I think allotments are very important for wellbeing. At Boundary Way, plots are looked after by individuals, groups of friends, families and community organisations. They provide an opportunity to spend time in nature, tend to something and to connect with other people. Allotment historian Twigs Way who we worked with a few years ago described having a plot as, ‘a little bit of this world is yours to look after’. There’s a body of scientific evidence showing that spending time in nature improves health. Making community connections and being able to express your own creativity on your plot the allotments provide a lifeline for many. I don’t have my own plot at the moment but I really value being part of the Boundary Way community as part of my work.
Boundary Way allotments is unique in having a community garden and this provides an oasis at the edge of the city. There are views across Wolverhampton and towards the South Staffordshire and Shropshire countryside. The garden is where our Offsite9 project will take place. It’s a space shared by plot-holders and local groups and includes woodland, a pond, an orchard, sensory garden, storytelling space and large polytunnel.
How do you hope the exhibition will enrich the allotment?
Offsite9 will provide a further opportunity to highlight the creativity that is happening at Boundary Way. This ranges from school group visits, the site as a source of inspiration for local artists and writers and a place where we can learn more about local biodiversity and its preservation. I hope that the exhibition will encourage connections between site users, and between site users and local people. It will also celebrate the creativity that Boundary Way has inspired and the importance of allotments in communities.
Has your own relationship to nature and wellbeing altered during the pandemic?
Contact with nature and tending plants has always been important to me and with more time spent working in isolation at home this became even more significant. During the first few months of lockdown I wasn’t able to visit Boundary Way as I don’t live near enough to it. I went for daily walks in my local area and felt very lucky to live near countryside and have a garden. This was very important for my wellbeing.
There were two books about nature that I read at that time that were significant for me. Firstly, ‘The Wild Remedy’ by Emma Mitchell, a beautifully illustrated diary that highlights how connecting with nature helped her to manage severe depression. Secondly, inspired by fungi in the woodland at Boundary Way I was gripped by ‘Entangled Life, how fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures’ by Merlin Sheldrake. This book opens up new ways of thinking about how we relate to the fungi kingdom.
How will the exhibition draw attention to issues of climate emergency?
The exhibition will highlight how the climate and ecological crisis impacts on us all by presenting artistic responses and community projects in a local green space. It will highlight the importance of these spaces for nature and biodiversity to local communities. I hope it will also help to illustrate actions that we can all take to make a difference. It will examine the changes in artists practice that are needed in a new greener future and the important role of the arts in helping us cope in challenging times.
Creativity in whatever form can help us share our thoughts and feelings and bring people together. In this way we can express our hopes and fears about the climate and nature crisis and come together to take action.
During lockdown we developed online workshops and films that explored a whole variety of ways of connecting with nature; ranging from examining seasonal folklore tradition, the uses of herbs, movement and mindfulness, flower arranging, making botanical inks, cookery and poetry. We also encouraged people to connect with nature wherever they live and under lockdown restrictions. Whether this was through noticing nature through a window, tending plants indoors or exploring urban trees. These activities can help people to feel more connected to nature and therefore value it and protect it.
It will also highlight examples of artists ecological practice and a move towards carbon neutral and zero carbon ways of working.
What will the exhibition include?
The exhibition will combine film, artwork, poetry and installation from artists based in Wolverhampton and across the region. It will also showcase work by local school pupils including Penn Fields Special School and Highfields School that are adjacent to the allotments.
It will present work created by two groups that have developed online during lockdown; Boundary Way Writer’s group is a monthly online meet up where we create and share nature inspired poetry, and the botanical INKollective is a group of artists exploring plant inks who connect online to work on projects via postal exchange.
The exhibition will highlight and celebrate the wealth of creativity that has been generated through Boundary Way Project’s lockdown programme over the past couple of years which was made possible with support from Heritage Emergency funding and the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage.
What are your hopes for the project?
I’m really excited that Boundary Way project will be part of a cultural programme for our city. It’s an exciting time to highlight the cultural richness of Wolverhampton that is often overlooked.
I would like it to lead to new partnerships and joint working especially in relation to Wolverhampton’s Climate Change Framework and Strategy (2021). I hope it’s an opportunity for fun and positivity and a hopeful transition following the challenges of the past couple of years.