RAMBLES WITH NATURE KIT was commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival for their 2021 Festival.
The kit is based on Rambles with Nature, a series of art-works Sheila began making in 2013 which explored the hedgerow from a range of perspectives and angles, with many different collaborators.
At the invitation of the Festival, Sheila translated the project into a Kit – drawing together some of the tips and tools used over the years, with instructions – so that others might undertake a Ramble with Nature, at their own leisure and on their own terms…
Each kit (only 100 were made) came carefully presented in a pouch and contained a letter from Sheila, some rambling rules, a notebook and pencil, and 6 tools designed to encourage attentive looking, listening and reflection on nature – including a pocket Claude Glass (aka black mirror).
The project as a whole was inspired by a book Sheila found in a charity shop called Rambles with Nature Students (1899). In the book the author and naturalist Elizabeth Brightwen invites readers to practise attentiveness - to look and listen carefully whilst out and about... Out of this simple instruction she grew a collection of art-works, which she called rambles.
To Ramble:
1. To move about aimlessly.
2. Walk about casually or for pleasure.
3. Follow an irregularly winding course of motion or growth. 4. Speak or write at length and with many digressions.Read more about Rambles with Nature HERE.
Each kit contained:
A set of rambling rules
A charm to inspire action
A frame to practise looking with
A bell as a reminder to listen
An instruction to make time visible (with a penny for luck!)
An invitation to become crepuscular
A notebook for jotting
A pencil for sketching
And a Claude Glass (aka black mirror) to encourage reflection (into the past, round a corner, into the future)...
Rambles with Nature Kit photos by John Hunter
“The hedgerow: A place to set out from. A place to disappear into. Or a connecting line, simply to follow. Literally, metaphorically, ecologically. An outdoor place. A habitat. Full of species, plants, animals, roots. Hybrids, lineages, power struggles. Fashioned by hand. A woodland relic. An ancient pathway grown wayward and wild. Teeming with myths. Teeming with histories. Barrier. Screen. Symbol of Britain. Of the Enclosure Acts. Of an impossible to remember common land. A tangly mass of boundaries. Not always pretty. Sometimes selfish. This bit is mine. And this and this. Dusty with petrol. Full of rubbish and stuff...”
A Norfolk & Norwich Festival Commission.
Produced by Ailsa Mckay.
Design by John Hunter at ThisIsRuler.net with illustrations by Mel Sheppard.
Rambles with Nature was originally produced by Sally Rose and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.