Wildworks: 'This is Me'
‘This is Me’ was one of seventeen artworks produced for Hello Stranger, a Cornwall-wide community engagement programme created by Wildworks and supported by National Trust places in Cornwall and the communities they serve. The exhibitions of this artwork have now finished.
About 'This is Me'
‘This is Me’ was an arts engagement project and part of Wildworks' Hello Stranger programme. It set out to uncover stories of connection to place, to Cornwall and lands far beyond its borders and beaches.
Artists Melanie Young and Caroline Schanche worked with a group of women from Hayle WI over several months to create the installation. They used different creative mediums to explore their personal stories. Stories of place, belonging and memory formed the starting points for all the artworks.
Originally intending to create a cabinet, the artists soon realised that what they were making with the women could more appropriately be described as a reliquary- a box or shrine in which sacred objects are kept.
Visitors were invited to spend a while: hear the voices, watch the film, and wander around the installation to enjoy all the different elements that create the whole.
'This is me' on tour at National Trust places in Cornwall
The installation is embarked on 5 month tour of National Trust places throughout Cornwall in autumn 2024, exhibiting at Trelissick, Pentire, Cotehele and Godolphin.
“I feel one of the benefits of this project is that we are all getting to know each other at a deeper level - which is lovely.”
About the artists
Melanie Young is a visual artist who uses immediacy of the painted surface to explore themes impacting the lives of women, including motherhood, generational families and inheritance.
Caroline Schanche is a community dance artist who explores the stories of people’s lives through the impulse to move. From a toddler taking their first steps to a person with dementia recalling that Saturday night dance, Caroline’s practice honours participation and access for all.
Melanie and Caroline are co-directors of Open the Box Arts, a female-led artist collaboration.
Our partners
Wildworks is the UK’s leading landscape theatre company. From their base in Cornwall they make site-specific theatre with communities locally, nationally and internationally. They reach audiences and collaborators all over the globe. Everyone is invited.
National Trust collaboration with Wildworks in Cornwall
National Trust hosted multiple new artworks in 2024 commissioned for the Hello Stranger community engagement programme led by Wildworks, the UK’s leading landscape theatre company, in an exciting new collaboration. The programme will ran across multiple National Trust places from July 2024 until November 2024, featuring works by Cornish artists and co-produced by communities across Cornwall.
Wildworks: Story Shelter
Story Shelter was one of seventeen artworks produced for Hello Stranger, a Cornwall-wide community engagement programme created by Wildworks and supported by National Trust places in Cornwall and the communities they serve. The exhibitions of this artwork have now finished.