A Full and Busy Schedule - Visiting all over the Place
The interns engaged fully with the Fearon Hall management team. The manager, Megan Bezzano-Griffiths, has led her team to revitalise the historic building built in 1889. The services offered by the centre aim to take care of the disadvantaged and the elderly. A busy art programme enriches the lives of its service users. The interns learned about how social institutions operated that they have heard about in Taiwan.
2022 Overseas Art Internship Program in Loughborough, UK Students from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan In the summer of 2022, Taiwanese art interns released a newsletter in Loughborough, UK. As a platform, the publi cation recorded the whole project journey and aspects of daily life in Fearon Hall during the internship from the perspective of reporters. The newsletter entitled NEXUST is a coined word to communicate the three key ideas to the exhibition: “Nest,” “Nexus,” and “Next.”
During the five-week internship, the students were based in Fearon Hall Community Centre, a community hub situated in the historic cultural quarter of Loughborough. They participat ed in a range of art and art curation activities with local artists as well as experiencing other types of cultural exchange expe riences. The program facilitated a rich cultural and art exchange, with activities taking place in all kinds of venues. The team of local artists supporting the interns generously shared their creation of art and lives in the workshops. In this journey, the spirit of open-mindedness and the macroscopic concept for creating art passed on from artists to students, opening their minds and eyes, embracing new ways to explore the world.
Ride on the wind of art, and let the good things soar.
In 2014, a group of students from Taiwan undertook a cultural exchange internship in Loughborough, a town situated in an area of England called The Midlands. The COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in a postponement of the programme but in 2022, it was relaunched. The new programme was instigated and led by National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Associate Professor Ming Turner. British artist Jacqui Gallon, with the support of host Fearon Community Association, coordinated a new intern programme which was undertaken by students between the 18th of July and the 21st of August 2022. Five Taiwanese gradu ate students studying at NCKU participated in the programme: Pin-Chun Chen, Ming-Chieh Hsu, Pei-Yin Lin, Peng-Yin Tseng, and Huai-Jhen Wu.
Cross-cultural, Cross-generational, and Cross-disciplinary Exchange
About the Exhibition
Reconnect the Network of Art, Looking forward to when we all fly together again on the wind
(Author: Pen-Yin Stacy Tseng)
Other experiences included being taken to the art studio of Zanetta Middleton, Loughborough University, Yorkshire Sculp ture Park, and the woodland and farm in a rural outpost of Loughborough called Nanpantan. The creative journey left rich memories for the interns in various ways. Additionally, they co-created with the artists in a collective work - using a large parachute combined with performing arts to create a video “The Dragon | 白翼” which later was selected for a screening event at Two Queens, a professional art space in Leicester. Subtopics for the Co-creating Exhibition: Nest, Nexus, Next
As a celebration of this cultural exchange, interns from Taiwan curated an exhibition, showcasing their co-creation with British artists. The exhibition took place on August 19 at Fearon Hall, developing the work created in the workshops by extending them to more cross-disciplinary artworks.
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In the post-pandemic period, taking a risk to travel again seems frightening, but this is, in fact, another chance in life. In those days, people who suffered from the disease were confined for so long by all the quarantine policies. They were forced to step away from communication due to the unknown terror resulting in anxiety and stagnancy. People now can cherish the warmth of in-person contact in the post-pandemic period. Things we used to take for granted are now being regraded, experienced, and treasured. But now art plays a vital role in this topic. Art can encourage people to understand others’ philosophies of life by empow ering them with empathy. It makes people care about the environment around them and the society in which they are part of it and generates spiritual energy through influencing the community. With tight connections, brainstorming, and sharing among people, co-creation can make people’s hearts fly again.
The opportunity for multi-cultural exchange was another aspect of this programme. The interns attended ‘A Taste of Morocco’ evening, for example, having a delightful gastronomic experience of an exotic meal at Fearon Hall. Together with Fearon Hall, they hosted a Taiwanese Evening making braised pork belly, stir-fried noodles, and other Taiwanese dishes on their own and sharing with the residents in the community.
In the program "Fly to Fearon Hall," students enlivened the local art community in art internships and the process of a co-creating exhibition, making beautiful things fly again. In this process, both sides of the network experienced the beauty and the wonderment of cross-disciplinary and cross-national communication. Flying symbolises freedom and the energy of new impact. The power of art closely connects artists in Loughborough and graduate students from National Cheng Kung University. We expect the sustain ability of these bonds. No matter how far, we are always willing to fly to each other!
During the programme, the interns hosted two art workshops for children and released a newsletter NEXUST which is now in your hand. Children of the tutoring artists also participated in the workshops. Children's participation made the art co-cre ation process full of imagination and experimentation. White sheet and plastic suddenly became the funniest creative medium as the tasty onion became your best dyes! When creat ing a video work, never had the intern expect that she could be honest and reveal herself with her whole heart in front of a camera. The immersive experience of art made people feel touched. Through art co-creation, they changed each others' values and perceptions of life. The brainstorming and communi cation, the dialogue between the West and the East, the discus sion among the elder generation, the young generation, and even the children made Taiwanese students shout "AMAZING" every day!
The exhibition concept was under three subtopics: Nest, Nexus, and Next. Immediately before the exhibition opened, the curation team invited residents and art lovers to write down sentences and words inspired by the three subtopics on a white sheet. Then, everyone holds and lifts the sheet. When partici pants walk into Fearon Hall together, it symbolises that new energies from all parties will fly into the community.
(Designer:
Loughborough
The inspiration for the poster came from the polystyrene block printing work shop. Geometric shapes are used as bricks to build up Fearon Hall, which symbolises a home. If people see this graphic design from a great distance, the four blocks comprise a window welcoming people to Fly to Fearon Hall. The evening edition also took the idea of purple from Loughborough University. Ming-Chieh Haruna Hsu) Fearon Hall, Art,
Word Loughborough,List:
Exhibition, Memory, Nexus, Community, Shelter Word Search Design Concept of the Poster 3
19th July We walked around Loughborough and saw a lovely exhibition of oil prints by Richard Jarvis at the Sock Gallery. We also visited many landmarks and facilities in Loughborough. The flowers in Queen Park were so exuberant!
26th July We held an art workshop for children. It was combined with Taiwanese culture and talked about old Taiwanese tiles and window grilles. We prepared examples of Taiwanese festival masks for the following week.
22nd July
28th July Emily Arnold led a cyanotype workshop and demonstrat ed various creative ways to make cyanotype artworks. There is no substitute for the joy of working with nature.
25th July We had a polystyrene block printing workshop in advance to prepare for the children's workshop tomorrow. We also demonstrated lots of creative ideas on using polystyrene.
Author
WEEK1 WEEK2
20th July Artist Nenagh Watson organised a puppet animation workshop in the ballroom at Fearon Hall. It was our first experience of performance art and having a puppet head creation.
On our fifth day in Loughborough, we explored all the nooks in Fearon Hall by rubbing on the paper wherever we went. Then we made an art installation for the journey, which was co-created with the artist Jacqui Gallon's "Frag ments of Memory" Project.
21st July We visited Zanetta Middleton's art studio for eco dyeing papers and a journal-making workshop. The style of interi or design in the space was too fabulous to leave.
29th July We filmed the video, edited them together and displayed the objects meant to us. A workshop on place and identity led by James Chantry resulted in an incredible pop-up show!
During the five-week internship, the students were based in Fearon Hall Community Centre, a community hub situated in the historic cultural quarter of Loughborough. They participated in a range of art and art curation activities with local artists as well as experiencing other types of cultural exchange experiences. The program facilitated a rich cultural and art exchange, with activities taking place in all kinds of venues. The team of local artists supporting the interns generously shared their creation of art and lives in the workshops. In this journey, the spirit of open-mindedness and the macroscopic concept for creating art passed on from artists to students, opening their minds and eyes, embracing new ways to explore the world.
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18th July
27th July Artist and PhD researcher James Chantry led great work shops focusing on the theme of place and identity. We scribbled with charcoal by moving our bodies and made abstract oil paintings. We also had a tour of the art school at Loughborough University.
Ming-Chieh Haruna Hsu
All the Taiwanese interns arrived in Loughborough. The hospitality we felt at the welcome tea party was much warmer than the 40-degree weather outside.
4th Aug
We continued with a workshop on poetry and movement. In the meadow, we all wore white and carried sheets that fluttered in the wind. Artists in Loughborough and the Taiwanese art interns co-created a piece entitled "Dragon".
WEEK3 WEEK4
10th-12th Aug We worked on our newsletter from home. The NEXUST included the exhibition, interviews with residents and staff at Fearon Hall, and a diary from Loughborough. Another busy day with Jacqui Gallon curating the exhibi tion about “Fly to Fearon Hall''.
5th Aug We had a field trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where we enjoyed the sunshine, nature, and the outdoor and indoor artworks. Here is a place we would like to visit again.
2nd Aug
1st Aug
3rd Aug
8th Aug We exchanged ideas for discoveries in wood from last week. Interior designer Laura Dalton talked about how she changed the space, the materials she used, and how it felt to go through the process. We also had a plastics and dyes workshop in the afternoon.
We visited the artist Jacqui Gallon's studio at Nanpantan and met Vanessa Parkinson, taking us back to the Tudor period. We took a lecture and workshop on natural dyeing and were guided to dye the gloves and scarves. The gloves represent ed hands were placed in a circle to symbolize friendship.
9th Aug Preparing for the forthcoming exhibition next Friday, we have the place scouting at Fearon Hall with our tutoring artist Jacqui Gallon. In the afternoon, the artist Jemain Duberry shared his special relationship with urban places. We also had our first Parkour experience!
In the morning, the art interns led a workshop for the children to explore Taiwanese festival masks. We performed a lion dance to pray for good fortune. The children had a great imagination and delivered brilliant outcomes.
The workshop led by Miffy Ryan and Paul Conneally in the woodland explored the relationship between plastic, nature, and the body. After taking part in the meditation and a short performance of "Wild Thing," we felt the power of nature.
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Nexust learned more about Fearon Hall's internal organization and external participants through interviews with people. Some interviewees are very engaged, while others are just starting to join. Some of the inter viewees were very lively and chatty! Others were shy and required thought before responding to our questions. But they all have in common that they all agree about the importance of Fearon Hall to the community! Welcome to Fearon Hall! Everyone you meet here has a different backstory, and you'll write incredible stories with others! Peng-YinInterviewer:Stacy Tseng Huai-Jhen Pin-ChunPhotographer:WuAnnie Chen NEXUST | Interview 7
“I’ve always been hesitant to show off about the hall because I need to make sure that we are as good as we say we are. I want people to say that we are good. We want them to come. I hate to say, “We’re brilliant!” and people come, and everyone is misera ble, and the food is called rubbish, and the place smells. We want to get everything right so that when we start to tell people about what a cool place this is. I think it is a cool place. People come in here; they’re happy; they enjoy what they say. With Jacqui’s help, the arts are the thread that helps us connect altogether. It helps to bring richness to the centre. It showcases what can be done. I am happy to show off by telling people about the lovely art, different exhibitions, and the opportunities that come. With our vegan nights and different foods, we’re now at a point, if we have 30 people arrive one day for dinner, we can feed them. Whereas before, we kept it for 10, and if 12 came, everyone panicked. The portions got smaller. The café has to run its business. The hall is important for me, it needs to keep going. We have the responsibility to look after our space and the people in it.”
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(Edited by Huai-Jhen Wu)
GriffithsBezzano-Megan
“I think everyone deserves a chance; everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly.”
Running Fearon Hall
Do What is Right, Not What is Easy
“We get funding - we are a strategic partner of the council - for a small part of our income. This is important, it means we can have the doors open, have the café. Things like our shops, the supermarket, they are ways to bring people in. Once they are in, it is those connections that happen within it. That’s what I believe in. Then, we also have the responsibility to maintain the building, so that it is a nice place for people to feel comfortable. Also, we need to generate income because my annual running costs are really high. I need to be able to draw income to help, to afford, and to do the delivery. The café barely breaks even. In fact, it doesn’t. I got lottery funding. To keep the staff wages going, I need to make a thousand pounds a week. I give most of the food away, to be honest. Because people need it. We are lucky we have funding to help. But to run a proper café, you need people to be able to serve, deliver, cook, and work effectively. We’ve got a few years to turn the café into breaking even because that is something we believe very much is the way to bring people together.”
“For me, our service is about connecting people. We provide opportunities for people to meet, to come and get advice, to get help, and interact with services. We can look after people. That history and that heritage is something I think is important. We believe that we look after the people in our community. We do that through food, activities, and opportunities. That’s the reason why the hall is here.”
“You should see Jacqui’s Wednesday art group. Jacqui has enabled people to learn so much. I think everyone deserves a chance; everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly. If you’re lonely, if you don’t have many chances in life to make yourselves come out to places, you find it hard. But to come out for something is different. There is a beautiful lady, Sally, with the “knit and natter” group this morning. She is in her seventies. She said that she felt like it was her first day at school because she had not been back since Covid. She loved coming to our knitting group, but she was nervous to come back. Then, when she saw all her friends and everything happening, she felt happy again. We’re connected because loneliness is hard. The two gentlemen sat there, for example, they both lost their wives. One more recently than the other. They are struggling to look after them selves. For one of them, his wife did all the reading, so he doesn’t read. So for example, we’re looking in the shop, and he said, ‘So, this is the semi-skim milk.’ because it’s a green pot. ‘No… it’s apple juice.’ I said. He just linked the colour of the carton with the milk. It’s all small acts of support.”
A Second Chance
“It costs money to keep this building. The scary part of my job is that I have to help us pay the bills. If the building has to close because we can’t pay the rent or the gasoline and electric bills, then we wouldn’t be here. So, I try to rent our rooms and this bring in essential income. The café sells food and tries to make a profit. I try to make a profit by selling rooms, then we can pay the bills. Apart from that, it’s lovely.”
FEELING FOR FEARON HALL
How blessed it is! To meet a job that you would look forward to working on. The Soul is a PIXAR movie about finding the spark in life, and I saw it from Dawn's eyes. Her spark lighted up when she shared her thoughts on the philosophy of food banks, and people got a second chance during the conversation in this building. I learned a lot from the talk, and those ideas will empower me when I encounter any challenges in life. because I had to pay the bills, but I can get by on what I earn here.”
“We had an idea that we wanted to help people out. Because people didn’t have a lot of money, they were on benefits. The government doesn’t support them enough, so we had a conversation with the council again. They said, ‘Set up your food bank.’ We tried it for 11 weeks, but we had to buy this food. Each week we buy it costs us a lot. And we didn’t get enough people coming to the food bank to cover what we were spending out. In 11 weeks, we made a loss, so we decided just before we went on holiday that we were going to stop being a food bank, and today is the first day we opened our Good Food Doing Good pop-up food store. It’s for everyone. Before my holiday we had 5 people picking up a bag paying 3 pounds which meant we made 15 pounds. Today I have 40 people give me 3 pounds so we can make our money back. This shop stops good food from going in the bin. It helps everyone. I’ve got a bag to take home with me tonight, and for 3 pounds that helps me out. The pop-up shop is for anyone to come in.”
(Edited by Huai-Jhen Wu)
FOOD BANK
“It is a perfect job. It’s the job you would love coming to work. I’ve been in a job that I just don’t want to go to. But this job, I am awake at six o'clock looking at the sun outside. I get showered. I get dressed. I’m excited to come to work. What will happen today? Because I never know what’s going to happen. That’s what Fearon Hall means to me.”
“Whether it’s the building, whether it’s the people inside the building, something just got me. It’s just hooking me, and it won’t let me leave because it’s just so special.”
Annie'smatterwords:
“I had another job working for the coun cil for 19 years. One day, I went to work. I just decided I didn’t like anymore. And I resigned without telling anyone. They weren’t mistreating me, but they gave me too much work to do. It made me tense. I wasn’t enjoying it anymore, so I left. I didn’t have a job, and my husband said, ‘But you need a job because we have to pay the bills.’ I was looking online, and I saw a job at Fearon Hall. I thought it sounded nice. It wasn’t much money. It was about a quarter of what I was earning in my last job, but I applied for it. And I met Meg in this room. She interviewed me. And I knew I’ve got the job because the interview went so well. She rang me up later that day and said, ‘Would you come and work for me?’ And I did!”
Dawn Page
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“ I’ve been here just over two years, and I love it! You’ve seen the people that we have. Some of them are a bit upset, but I am looking after them. We meet other groups, like this lovely lady and lots of people. And we met you. It’s a perfect job! It’s not being in the council staring at the computer, filling in forms all day and not enjoying them, never meeting anyone. I was just staring at that computer, and then you never saw what was going on. I didn’t like it, and I just thought, ‘No, I am leaving.’ 19 years was enough. I only stayed there because I was earning so much money. And, I decided money wasn’t what I was alive for. It didn’t matter. It did
“There is something about this building that I don’t think I’ll be able to leave it. Whether it’s the building, whether it’s the people inside the building, something just got me. It’s just hooking me, and it won’t let me leave because it’s just so special. Today, there are a lot of people who come in and say, ‘I just need to talk.’ And to them, that is a real problem they’ve got. Talking helps. One lady, when you’re having lunch, she was suddenly crying. I was sitting with her just talking. By the end, she felt better. So, the place just hooks you and won’t let you leave.”
Peter William Annie's words:
“When I joined in, I got lots of friends here. And I learn differ ent, different things every week. For example, I was helping them with the cooking. I learned cuisine in different places. Once, they did an Asian café here, and we worked for free. People who wanted to come and eat here, had money to spend on charity. It’s 4 pounds a plate and the money was collected and went to charities. Fearon Hall is a very good place, you can learn so many things from different people. Some people knit and some people do music or dance. Every time we come here, we learn different things and know so many people.” (Edited by Huai-Jhen Wu)
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“I enjoy the voluntary work in Fearon Hall as a receptionist and I like here. I live in Sileby. Every day, I come here at 7 in the morning. I meet some friends and do paintings. Sometimes I water plants in the garden here.”
Race or status doesn't matter at Fearon Hall. People come to Loughborough because of marriage or work. However, Fearon Hall became a strong point that gathered people as a thousand threads. Everyone is committed to being who they want to be together. This connection brings us to each other.
I watched videos about Parkour before. Through editing, I thought everything about Parkour was speedy and intuitive. Because of Jemain's demonstration, I know this is an art that needs complete and careful calculation, patience and continu ous practice, combining physical performance and sport. In addition to Parkour, Jemain showed us his Yin and Yang graffiti in the skateboarding space. I suddenly discovered that the oriental concept of Yin and Yang is also quite related to Parkour! In extreme sports, it is not always sprinting or pursuing speed but finding a balance with the environment. Thank you, Jemain, who wore oversized glasses and a smile, for sharing your passion for life with
There are various methods of Parkour; a series of Parkour plans must be calculated and planned in my brain, using body muscles, and using different angles of poses to interact with objects in the environment. A set of park facilities can create countless ways to play and show a personal style; I often practise non-stop at the skatepark, then go to work and school and return to continue the Parkour because doing what I like is like recharging. It fills me up with energy. If I don't Parkour for too long, I will miss it. Maybe I just miss "myself," who can play extreme sports! I also had a lot of kids talking to me at the skate park, and teaching them how to parkour became one of the best moments of my life.
It's great to be surrounded by things I love, and I love Parkour, skateboarding, all kinds of boxing, and performing arts. Even though every time I try something new, such as when I need to perform in front of a crowd, my heart is still tight. Every break through and learning makes me feel good. I've also trained Parkour with some members of Flowflys, a parkour group who used to visit Southfields often, where I would try out new techniques that I would see and stay for hours making sure I would get at least one down with confidence and the rest would go in my to-do list. Once Parkour, for Life Parkour Parkour was a big part of my life before I broke my ankle as I would do it every day even if I wasn't going to the Park. I am proud to share my knowledge with others, especially such hard-working people willing to learn and put in the effort. I would also just like to say thank you for the opportunity.
Je main Duberry
“I am really proud to be able to share my knowledge with others, especially such hard-working people who are willing to learn and put in the effort, and I would also like to say thank you for the opportunity.” Hi! I am Jemain! I am twenty-one. I love extreme sports and performing arts. Introduced by local artist Miffy, I went to Fearon Hall one afternoon to share my passion for Parkour with Taiwan ese interns. That day was a great memory because I could share everything I love. I've been playing Parkour since I was five years old! When I was very young, climbing trees was a natural game, and I started playing Parkour like this for over ten years. Even though I was injured last year and still have four steel nails in my ankle, I can still slowly regain the feeling through practice. The scars of injuries are a glorious memory for me and a trace of my efforts. Parkour, my STYLE
Stacy'sus. words:
Practice makes Perfect Parkour is a stack of a series of basic skills. Constantly rolling and jumping requires a lot of patience and perseverance! I hope everyone can pay more attention to this sport in the future. Graffiti is also something I love. The yin and yang totem in the skate park is my work. There was also a graffiti event in Fearon Hall before. I have thousands of photos of that time on my mobile phone. Because there are too many interesting patterns, I don't know how to choose, so I keep them all!
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“For the first time, working at the Moroccan Food Night at Fearon Hall, I felt the fun of being a waitress!”
HarperEstelle
“Fearon Hall is where many people meet. And for vegetarians, it has a great selection of food. Fearon Hall is also full of people who care about each other, just like Loughborough! Loughbor ough is where I grew up; people are very connected to each other, there is no sense of segregation, and many people from different ethnic groups in the school care about each other, which brought me a different perspective. And my favourite thing in Loughborough is the forest; you will feel connected to the world and beautiful and relaxing when you walk in it. Perhaps it is because of the surrounding nature that people are more innocent and (Editedfriendly.”byPeng-Yin Stacy Tseng)
“My name is Estelle. I am about to turn fourteen. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to act as a waitress at Fearon hall Moroccan night, assisting the kitchen in deliv ering meals to customers. It was a very special experience for me. Because I have always been curious about waitress ing. I finally got a chance to try it out! Although there were a lot of customers that day, and the work tempo was hectic and fast, it was a test for me, but it was perfect for me to try it for the first time. I shared this experience with my friends, who thought it was pretty cool too! I hope to have the opportunity to continue trying in the future. People come together, especially for food, so I'm also looking forward to more food-themed events at Fearon Hall.”
Stacy's words: An Insight into Being a Waitress Equality for All Estelle's interview process was inter esting. Previously, her mother, Vic, took us to Yorkshire Sculpture Park during the internship. While chatting in the car, we realised that we had met her daughter on a Moroccan night! I am curious about this quiet girl. It was obvious that she was serious about her job that evening. She carefully placed her hands in front of her apron and served customers with a warm and friendly smile, which made us, who tasted Moroccan food for the first time, feel Fearon Hall's good attitude. After the interview, I found out that Fearon Hall is willing to give many people a chance, and the new genera tion can bravely take the first step here. This kind of cross-generational teaching is excellent. I also wish Estelle a happy birthday here again! I hope that Fearon Hall continues to let everyone come here and experience various foods, and feel the charm of multiculturalism! In Taiwan, we say, ‘Conquer customers' stomachs with delicious food!’
“Hopscotch to Fearon Hall” was created and first displayed in the art workshop “Fragments of Memory,” delivered by the artist Jacqui Gallon. Fearon Hall is a carrier of memories, overlaid with scraps of time and the emotions of humans. With over a hundred-year history, the building preserves the trace of time. Every carved mark and scratch marks a fragment of time and resonates with the embodied memory. By creating rubbings, the interns observed the texture and materiality of the building. Through walls, floor, doorknobs, gravestones, and plants outside the building, we communicated with the intangible past - time and space. The work consisted of a series of pieces of frottage. We arranged each piece of rubbing in the sequence every visitor sees when they come to Fearon Hall. The image of chairs refer ences Henry David Thoreau’s most-quoted passage, “I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.” At Fearon Hall, arrays of chairs signify that people are welcome to come in and take a seat.
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“Nest” is a house where birds can rest after a long flight. In this aspect, Fearon Hall is a nest and a shelter for residents in the community. Facing the dilemma in life, people can rest their hearts and souls in this place where the door is opened for everyone. With the mission of taking care of the disadvantaged and helping people in need, they offer more than the basic need for food and warmth but offer a sense of security and belonging ness that takes people away from loneliness and isolation. People there are willing to help and share with their kindness. During this short stay, as a flock of migratory birds travelling from Taiwan to the UK, we called it a second home because of their love and care. Regardless of age, ethnicity, nationalities, or social-economic status, every individual can come and meet at this building, making one and more connections and gaining recognition to fill up the void in their heart. Fearon Hall is not simply a physical building but a place good souls congregate.
When participating in the project, “Place and identity,” we mined from our memories about ourselves, families, cultural background, and the long standing issue in the society in which we are a member. Memories are the roots of identities. To illustrate, everything we experienced in the past is what makes us today. From your perception to your behaviour; from your value to your identity. By tracking back to the root, we could have clear pictures of who we are. Guided by the artist, James Chantry, we revealed ourselves and reflected on our art practice in abstracts and videos. For one, the creative journey was a reconciliation with herself, while one freely sprayed the colours as her flowing thoughts. One depicted the most memorable scenes in her childhood, and one expressed the concept of breakthrough and freedom. Art empowered us to be honest with ourselves.
Nest
Author Huai-Jhen Wu
Rubbings on Memory
Memories and Identities
"Friendship" is the first work of the Nexus series. Vanessa Parkinson held a workshop about gloves and scarves with natural dyes. In the village of Nanpantan, we were moved by her earnest talk and studies of the Tudor period. She played a poor Tudor gardener who needed to work for her master, wearing her hair bound with cloth and a large apron. The importance of history for the British has been woven into their lives. "Living with the past," she said. The conversation and interaction with history from Vanessa were admirable. In addition, the artwork "Friendship" features gloves and scarves dyed with natural dyes. The interns used knots and clips to represent the nexus. It aims to bring out the aesthetic of the unfinished work, which is not dry, on a shelf and blow ing in the wind. It symbolises a new life, freedom, and spon Plantstaneity.
The second work in the Nexus series is “Roadside Banquet,” a significant ritual in Taiwanese culture. It is held on meaning ful occasions such as weddings, traditional festivals, etc. Therefore, we used the concept of reunion to invite audienc es to sit down and enjoy the works on the table.
Live with the Past
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A node represents each encounter, the beginning of co-cre ation, and the unpredictable collective creation. In the forest, many plants appear to grow independently on the surface, but they are intertwined underground. Every node of the encounter is worth a celebration. Before we visited Loughborough, the tight relationship between artists was unrelated for us to understand due to our cultural back ground. Every time we met, there was always a good feeling between all of those participating. The artists we met are like trees, flowers, grass, and birds. Each of them had different views of the world and held different energies, nourishing our minds.
Rabindranath Tagore’s poem said, “Once we dreamt that we were strangers. We wake up to find that we were dear to each other.”
Nexus
The artist Zanetta Middleton co-created this idea. She invited us to spend a whole day in her beautiful studio, which was so wonderful that we didn't want to leave. In addition, we learned that creating with plants was experi mental during the eco-dyeing workshop. We cooked eco-dyeing paper like witches, surrounded by the aromas of eucalyptus, roses, onions, and so on. It was like opening presents when we untied the eco-dyeing paper package. The fabulous and unpredictable colours attracted us so much. The diaries at the round table shared our first experience of hand-sewing books. If people look carefully, they can discover some of the leather on the covers is from Taiwan. The leather was redesigned, handcrafted, and taken full of memories back to Taiwan. In conclusion, diaries and journeys document the interaction between places and the stories people encounter with each other.
In addition, Fearon Hall, our internship base, is the heart of the community. The word “nexus” is often mentioned in the related theories of social networks. In interpersonal relation ships, community represents a sense of belonging, identity, and security. For example, strong ties are inherent between relatives and classmates; weak ties are present between strangers. No matter what relation it is, connections are the nodes interconnected in the networks prompting the encounter and resource exchange. Undoubtedly, the Taiwan ese art internship programme at Fearon Hall is a node combining strong ties with weak ties using the vehicle of art. We never know what will happen in the nexus, but we can grow together naturally, dismissing the presumption, and co-create a miracle.
Connect our Relationship
Author Pen-Yin Stacy Tseng
How Human’s Creativities have Dialogue with Nature
After World War II, huge amounts of plastics were manufac tured and used in people's daily life due to industrialization and convenience. We come from an area where people use a lot of plastic products. Plastic bags, plastic bottles, and plastic containers are easy to obtain. Plastic straws have also caused many sea turtles to be injured. Plastic components also contam inate the water we drink and the food we consume. People love and hate plastic at the same time! Nonetheless, when overwhelming negative voices become the mainstream, some artists wonder, "when the damage has already happened, can we make the existing plastic more creative?"
Author Pen-Yin Stacy Tseng
In today's eco-anxiety environment, when plastic is already present in every corner. How can humans coexist with it? Is there no harm to the environment after decomposing? The instructions on the packaging say that it can be decomposed in a few years. Just because it decomposed, is it worth using plastic? We still need plastic, but we can have more thinking about it. The work in the exhibition used plastic bottles as the creative material, and the statue hangs down the stairs, leaving some messages for the next generation.
The Message We Leave
During the process, Paul asked us, did you name the plastic dolls and bottles? We quickly answered no. Then he asked why we named our pets. Is it because we gave them names to accompany them? Because they have a life? Or, because of the plastic products we see everywhere, we throw them away after we use them, and the time is too short for giving them names? These conversations remain to explore the possibility of explor ing the relationship between plastic and life.
Finally, we went back to Fearon Hall and used many plastic bottles to create some images in the yard. Plastic can be any wild thing you want to create. Plastic can be created as insects, lotus flowers, or paintbrushes to draw many beautiful abstract works. The children of the artist also participated in these processes. The imagination and vitality of the children brought more possi bilities to all of this.
Exploring the Relationship with Nature, Plastics and Body Miffy also asked us to work in groups of two. Through the plastic rope in our hands, we intertwined the rope with our partners, sometimes tight and sometimes loose, and looked for a tree to interact with. The plastic rope and the tree formed a Strong contrast. The artist, Jacqui, and the intern, Annie, tried to define the image of blood vessels with the red plastic rope. The following is Annie's reflection. "We used the concept of intrave nous drips, wrapping around the end of the branch and connect ing it to the wrist. This image was like a tree as a human doctor. The tree endowed the rope with the current of life and connect ed the relationship between people and nature. Finally, we tied the plastic ropes to each other's wrists, took the branches as the centre point, slowly pulled each other, maintained balance, looked into each other's eyes, and wept silently. At this moment, our relationship with nature is tied together because of this red plastic rope. The workshop, using plastic as a medium, placed the seemingly conflicting plastics into this forest, trying to reinterpret and translate the relationship between them, and understand more about our balanced relationship with plastics in our daily life."
After a few days, we went to Yorkshire Sculpture Park and saw the harmony between the statue and the natural environment. The giant artworks interacted with the earth through the curation. Objects created by humans can still talk to nature.
Artist Miffy Ryan led us through many stages in the process of using plastic as an art medium. We went to a woodland site and listened to the sounds of nature and the inner message in nature.. Poet Paul encouraged us to sing "wild thing." Wild thing You make my heart sing You make everything groovy WildWethingwondered in our minds, what is the wild thing? Is it the furry beast in that movie? Is it an unknown adventure? Or the dark night in the hills and forests we were in? Everything began to feed the Rethinkingimagination.Barbie Dolls We used second-hand plastic dolls and plastic ropes in the woods to interact with the natural environment and took many pictures. During the process, we realised that it is easy to throw away plastics but challenging to reverse that action. And when Barbie is pulled apart and tied to a tree, or someone hangs Barbie up, the picture of deconstructing Barbie in the wood land is even more shocking. I also think that if the plastic has a human shape, such as a Barbie or a doll, when we want to throw it away, we feel guilty or pity, but when we throw away the bottle, we don’t realise it.
Nenagh Watson Vanessa Parkinson and to: who so graciously allowed us to interview them for this newsletter.
AcknowledgementsInterns
To curate an exhibition, we participated in many work shops and visited various places during this period. We were inspired by people, the ideas we observed, and how ideas communicated with audiences. It is not an art internship program for us but a meaningful experi ence to recall “open minds, big dreams, and wild hearts.”
Estelle Harper
16
Pin-Chun Chen, Ming-Chieh Hsu
We would like to thank Meg Bezzano-Griffiths and all the staff at Fearon Hall for making this internship possible.
Tseng Pin-Chun Chen Pei-Ying Lin Huai-Jhen Wu
Although there are still lots of things going on when I am writing this short statement, I hope the news letter “NEXUST” and the “Fly to Fearon Hall” exhibition can light up your heart as the generosity we felt here. In 2022, This hottest summer is not just because of the temperature but also our passion for art! Thanks to all of you who gave us incredible memories. Epilogue
Pei-Ying Pin-ChunLinChen
Jemain Duberry
Peter William Editorial Team
Ming-ChiehLoughborough-RegularHsuPeng-Yin
2022 Taiwanese Art
PhotographorVideoDesignerContentSupervisorsEditorEditor
Thanks also to Associate Professor Ming Turner of NCKU and Jacqui Gallon, Arts Coordinator and Curator at Fearon Hall, for conceiving and coordinating the intern programme for 2022. UK artists and other creative practitioners who generously gave of their time to lead workshop experiences:
Emily
Dawn Page Sunila Patel
Pasha MiffyZanettaKincaldMiddletonRyanandthe Lone Ones Collective
Before we came, we were full of curiosity; after flying here, we were full of gratitude. Thanks to the Loughbor ough artists, the Fearon Hall management team, every one we met on our journey, and all participants! We were involved in co-creating, co-curating, interviewing, writing, editing, and designing together!
Jacqui Gallon, Ming Turner
Meg Bezanno-Griffiths
Pen-Yin Tseng, Huai-Jhen Wu
JemainLauraPaulJamesNatalieArnoldChabaudChantryConneallyDaltonDuberry
