Foraging, Natural Dye and Raku Workshop

A two part Raku, Foraging and Dyeing workshop led by artist Linda Stupart, drawing on their multidisciplinary practice which is informed by queer theory, speculative fiction and *hydrofeminism as a response to climate change. Linda uses performance and film to challenge traditional hiercharchies, exploring more open ways of living in the world and rethinking our connection to nature through a queer lens. The workshops will provide a space for us to discuss other ways of relating to the land, and to each other, within a time of crisis. Hosted at Oak House Museum in West Bromwich, this event ties in with the museum’s public programme of affordable folklore and wildcrafting workshops for the local community, as well as an ongoing rewilding project being undertaken in the grounds of the house. The grounds are home to one of the oldest remaining patches of ancient meadowland in the UK, with over 200 species of plants found there.

Throughout the two days we'll forage for wild clay and plants, hand build ceramic pieces, explore natural dyeing techniques, glaze and fire our ceramics using the ancient Raku firing technique, and hold a tree planting ceremony. Linda will also screen their short experimental film Watershed.

*Hydrofeminism, refers to the ongoing linkages of water and the aims of feminism; especially referencing the work of Astrida Neimanis. Are fluid, fragmentary narratives potential escape routes from the existing infrastructure that dominates our world?

Programme Schedule

Workshop 1: Thursday 13 June, 2024

Lunch and refreshments will be served on both days. While it’s recommended that you attend both workshops, it’s fine if you can only attend one.

During the first day, Linda will share from their artistic practice, screening their film Watershed, a short experimental film recorded in South Birmingham’s River Cole during lockdown. After this we’ll participate in wild clay gathering and the foraging of wild plants, and hand-build our own ceramic pieces using what we find, imprinting the pieces using foraged leaves and grasses.

Workshop 2: Wednesday 16 June, 2024

On the second day, we’ll start by dyeing cloth using natural dyes in preparation for the closing ceremony. After this we’ll glaze and fire our ceramic pieces outdoors in a reduction bin, using the ancient tradition of Raku firing (originating in Japan in the 16th century), and build a ritual around the firing. The end of the day will be marked with the ceremonial planting of a rowan tree; a tree often used for protection, planted outside of doors in order to ward away bad luck. The act of planting a Rowan tree together is a way to give back to the ecology of the Oak House Museum site and contribute to the museum’s future public programme, with the museum offering yearly Rowan Bead necklace workshops.

Practical info & accessibility:

No previous experience needed.

Please let us know if you have any access requirements, or allergies or dietary requirements, by texting us, or calling us on: 07922 571832.

The workshops will mainly take place outside, so come prepared for the weather by wearing layers and comfortable footwear, plus waterproof clothing in the case of rain. All materials for the workshop, lunch and drinks will be provided.

Oak House's visitor centre is accessible, with accessible toilets and a lift to the classroom/workshop area. Most of the grounds are accessible, and the workshop will be tailored according to participants’ access requirements. There is no accessible parking on site but you can arrange to park on site before your visit on a day, please let us know in advance if you require this to be arranged. Drop off outside the gate is possible. You can access the Oak House Museum’s Visit England accessibility guide to Oak House.

Places are limited, booking essential.

Dr Linda Stupart is an artist, writer, and educator from Cape Town, South Africa. They completed their PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2016, with a project engaged in new considerations of objectification and abjection. They are currently a permanent lecturer at Birmingham City University, and have previously worked at University of Reading, London College of Communication, and Camberwell Arts College. Linda is interested in the possibilities for writing and making discrete grounded encounters with different kinds of bodies (of knowledge, objects, affect as well as corporeal bodies) as a way to think through less alienated ways of living and thinking together. This comes out of encounters with feminist art, postcolonial, ecological, queer, and affect theory as well as embodied and object-based critical institutional encounters. Their current work consists predominately of writing, performance, film, and sculpture, and engages with queer theory, science fiction, environmental crises, magic, language, desire, and revenge.

https://lindastupart.net

This workshop series sits under BCN, Multistory's artist development programme, which offers artists in Sandwell and the wider Black Country a free annual programme of talks, workshops and social events and is a space for mutual support and knowledge sharing. It was set up to provide artists in the local area opportunities for critical engagement and collaboration outside of formal arts education. The BCN programme informs, and is informed by, Multistory’s wider arts programme that is produced with and by artists and communities living in Sandwell.

www.multistory.org.uk