UPROOT

In 2024, Middlesbrough Art Week asked ‘how can we grow a festival?

In January 2024 I invited community groups and schools from across the Tees Valley to participate in a project called UPROOT. As a result, over 210 young people and community participants took part in growing mini wildflower meadows, which were planted in April at sites across Middlesbrough.

In September, the mini meadows were uprooted and brought to Pineapple Black where they became part of the MAW Festival Hub. Members of Creative Minds and Hope Foundation also designed and made brightly coloured cushions for the meadow seating.

Between 26th September-5th October, the hub hosted an 8-day programme of free school workshops and celebratory community events, critical conversations and creative drop-in activities. These included workshops on gathering and saving seeds, banner making, talks by Jace Clayton and Gracie Mae Bradley and a community painting in response to the meadow. UPROOT also collaborated with artist Theresa Easton on a zine connecting themes of the UK’s hostile environment to social movements for climate justice. Together, we explored multiple resonances of ‘uprootedness’ in contemporary Britain.