Outdoor art exhibition and Tapton Lock(Down) Zine
FOR the last eight years Junction Arts and Derbyshire County Council’s Countryside Service have delivered the Tapton Lock Festival, a free, fun-filled family event along the banks of the Chesterfield Canal.
In 2020 however, things have been a little different and we were unable to deliver the festival, writes project co-ordinator Jane Wells.
We thought long and hard about how we could still mark the festival and offer something of interest to the walkers and cyclists who traverse the canal. We decided to create an outdoor art exhibition of people’s responses to the canal, nature and the great outdoors.
The exhibition ran from September to November and was enjoyed by hundreds of people – some, regular walkers and cyclists, others new to the towpath. It was a popular attraction and added something really special at a time when things of joy were hard to come by.
In addition, we have published a newsletter, the Tapton Lock(Down) Zine to showcase the Writing Commission project to match five Derbyshire Festivals with a writer. We were partnered with poet Kaozara Okikiola Oyalowo who was commissioned to work with the BAME community in Chesterfield to engage them with the festival.
This initiative was also affected by the Covid pandemic, meaning that Kaozara wasn’t able to engage as much as she’d hoped. The work produced by those who did participate in the project was published in the zine.
You can see the full exhibition and read the zine by following the link to the Junction Arts website https://junctionarts. org/community-projects/ tapton-celebration-event/
The Writing Commission project was funded and supported by Derbyshire County Council, Arts Derbyshire and by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.