Proboscis were commissioned in 2008 by ADeC (Arts Development in East Cambridgeshire) to “create a space where local residents have the room to explore place and identity through creative activity that is based in both the physical world and on-line. That has an existence in the real world and virtual spaces.” In response to this we created Sutton Grapevine.
In Sutton Grapevine the exploration of place and identity focused on stories; personal stories, stories of place, fictional and factual stories, stories told through words, through images, through sound.
Over the last year we have been gathering stories through about life in Sutton through interviews and chance encounters, running workshops and events, conducting interviews, attending clubs and groups, visiting events, working with the youth group, a BBQ, exploring the local area by bike, foot and car, staging an exhibit in the Babylon Gallery Ely and through this website.
We worked with both groups and individuals in different situations. With groups we joined existing community group sessions but we also set up specific activities with groups such as three sessions with the youth group or the barbeque. We also organised more ad hoc sessions to engage passers by such as being outside the shop, in the tithe sale and at the school fete. We met people in the day and into the evening. We also set up two exhibits as a catalyst for conversation, one early on at the Babylon Gallery and one during the Feast. We had conversations in the Glebe, the Church, the Community Room, and other community spaces, at the school fete, in the street, outside the shop, in the pub and with individuals in their homes, at work and outside.
In many cases we set up a table with a large map of the Sutton and asked people to write on post-it notes their memories and thoughts about the village, places they knew or events they remembered, we used this to begin conversations about life in Sutton. The post its became a catalyst for more conversations as other people stopped to read them. We also used triggers to start conversations such as postcards that we had made of the village and historical documents and images loaned by a villager. We have met with many groups and individuals and been grateful for the warm welcome we have been given. We have never ceased to be inspired by how hard people work for their community as volunteers. In many ways large and small we felt that the stories of Sutton seemed to be a microcosm of the stories of the UK.
