New Project Celebrates the Coastal Heritage of Great Yarmouth, Harwich and Orford Ness
Funded by Historic England and run by community-driven art and design organisation Kinetika, 'Collecting Dreams, Shifting Futures' is a story-gathering project uniting communities in Great Yarmouth, Harwich and Orford Ness.
With a special emphasis on coastal heritage, the project centres on inclusivity, working with diverse local communities.
The project aims to gather 150 stories and images reflecting the area’s 3 stretches of coastline.
Community stories
Project partners Essex Book Festival (Harwich and Orford Ness) and Out There Arts (Great Yarmouth) have worked alongside local groups, in collaboration with writers and digital artists, to uncover individual stories and shared narratives through walking tours, heritage site visits and creative expression.
- In Harwich, the Essex Book Festival team worked alongside filmmaker Marley Karazimba, wordsmith TriggerBliss, and Kate O'Neill, sound archivist at Essex Record Office. Participants were the Electric Palace Cinema Young Film Programmers, the Connect Without Limits Autism Group, African Families in the UK, and Refugee, Asylum Seekers and Migrant Action (RAMA)
- With the support of the National Trust, the creative team of Essex Book Festival, photographer/filmmaker Lucia Barbagallo and writer Emma Kittle-Pey enjoyed access to the internationally important coastal nature reserve Orford Ness. This remarkable experience inspired story-gathering sessions with communities in Orford
- In Great Yarmouth, 5 local community groups took part in workshops led by filmmaker Mark Hannant and author Belona Greenwood: Men's Walk and Talk, a men's mental health organisation; Heritage for Wellbeing, a mental health organisation created by the Restoration Trust; Stomping Ground, a Great Yarmouth Youth Club for young people aged 11 to 18; Great Yarmouth Refugee Orientation Service; and Herring House Homeless Support Charity
Creative display at the Beach of Dreams Festival
The stories, memories and images from workshop participants will inspire written work, drawings and photographs created by artists, which will be revealed to the public in digital content and designed silk pennants.
The pennants, which are part of the Beach of Dreams national commission, 'The Beach of Dreams Silks', will be displayed during free, family-friendly events and walks from 28 to 30 May across Harwich, Orfordness and Great Yarmouth and will remain in the communities as enduring symbols of their stories and identity.
We are really pleased to have funded this project in the East of England, where coastal heritage plays an important part in the lives of local communities in three towns with very different histories. Through working with artists, people will have a chance to explore the heritage on their doorsteps, unearth hidden histories and celebrate what makes their towns so special. The project will also enable people to reflect on the future of their places as this coastline changes.
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