word on the street
Word on the Street worked with pupils from Chorlton High School and Chorlton Park Primary School to explore their local environs and capture something of the essence of the area today.
The children and young people worked with a poet to compose words about sites which they had identified as important through a process of creative exploration and walking tours of the area.
These poems were subsequently filmed by the young people themselves at the specific locations that each was written about. This resulted in the creation of a range of video vignettes demonstrating the range of locations identified.
A series of temporary markers were created and placed at each site for the duration of Chorlton Arts Festival. Each marker contained a web address and QR code which directed visitors to an online repository containing the films and which could be accessed via smartphone at the locations in which they were recorded.
A supporting microwebsite encouraged visitors to find the other markers and explore the trail of poems.
www.breadartcollective.co.uk/wots
For those without a smart device, a phone number on the markers allowed visitors to call an answering service and hear the poems read aloud.
Following the festival, the temporary markers were replaced with permanent enammelled steel versions, installed in perpetuity and containing key elements of the text that was written, and links to online content.
As well as providing a permanent record of the young participants’ work, the markers will be used as a foundation of further participative waymarking projects.
Poetry workshops were run by Mike Garry. Exploration and presentation was led by Scott Farlow and BREAD art.