education

Short film with St. Buryan School - Barbara Santi

We always had the intention to take The Farming Families concept to a local school. St. Buryan school was chosen as many of the children come from a farming background and I wanted to see what their vision was for their future.

It was ideal that Roz Nixon from Trewoof Wartha who is part of the main exhibition had an interest in art so she devised and led the educational workshops with many of the children. It was beyond my expectation that one of the farming participants could take this role on so to build on the projects longevity and give a real sense that this was not just my project but our project.

With the older children I worked towards making a short film using material gathered over the year with the families. We’ve combined photos, video and the children’s drawings to create a new world where their story has its own life. click here.

There are also 3 short films made by young people who live on farms around Penwith which has evolved out of Cornwall Arts Marketing Region of Culture campaign. Again the concept evolving over the year to give the farming community a real voice at all levels.

Hand made animals & scarecrow with St. Buryan School - Roz Nixon

At the beginning of the Autumn term the Farming Families project was introduced to the older children in St. Buryan school. We discussed the present situation of farming in West Penwith, climate change and touched on the subject of genetic modification. The children were asked to draw an animal or plant that they would like to see on farm in the future, either real or imaginary.

From these drawings the children went on to create their ‘creatures’ out of withys. These structures were wrapped in wadding and calico, then painted. For many of the children the traditional animals grazed the fields and frequented the farmyard, but amongst them you’ll see a spotty turquoise horse that lays eggs; a cheetah that acts as a guard dog; swans kept for their eggs and their ability to protect the chickens and ducks; a ‘dragonsaur’ that lays very tasty eggs and whose shredded skin makes an excellent floor covering; a ‘sharkodile’ the meat of which makes mouthwatering steaks for the barbeque and its waterproof skin unsurpassed for making wetsuits; finally a scorpion/leopard, spider and frog who will eat the bugs that plague the farmers crops, eliminating the need for insecticides.

The younger children helped make the scarecrow, many of them having never actually seen one in the fields. The emphasis was on using re-cycled materials: the framework – made from old packaging tubes and withys, taken from a previous structure destined for the wheelie bin; the clothes – old Wellington boots and gloves, a polythene sack and packaging his hat – a framework of withys wrapped and woven with strips from carrier bags; finally his nose cut from an egg box.