Hey! Earthlings! offers an invitation to rethink how we connect across difference, and how art might help cultivate belonging in an age of displacement.

The project began as an idea to invite people, who have moved across borders or with connections to other places through family and heritage, to join with us and share stories, sounds, and creative responses through walks and making. A simple idea, but multi-layered and rich with potential to help participants build stronger connections to local nature and heritage and, perhaps, find a new sense of place and belonging in Shropshire.

I co-led a team on behalf of Participate Contemporary Artspace CIC (now Participate Co-Labs) including Jill Impey – artist working in video, sound and printmaking; and Jean Atkin – poet and writer. We were supported by community workers Anna Martin and Marina Churm, evaluator/mentor Cerin Mills, and local artists Jamila Walker Thomas and Niki Holmes. We partnered with Shropshire Supports Refugees, English Heritage and other local organisations and community groups. Having secured funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund, activities took place Spring-late Autumn 2025.

The project’s creative events took place at four locations, which offered important natural and historic heritage to explore by walking together:

• Old Oswestry Iron Age Hill Fort
• Oswestry Memorial Hall
• Doctor’s Field countryside site, Shrewsbury
• Darwin House, The Mount, Shrewsbury (Charles Darwin’s birthplace and childhood home)

Each of the six events comprised artist-led walks followed by creative workshops with a range of activities offered with an open, flexible and welcoming approach to groups of participants.  

The resulting artworks were vibrant, layered, and deeply personal. They spoke of journeys, memories, loss, resilience, and joy. They reflected not only the challenges of displacement, but also the richness that diverse communities bring to local contexts.

The work made at the events was shown in a travelling Cabinet at exhibitions in local libraries and museums.  These took place at Oswestry Library; Gateway Arts and Education Centre, Shrewsbury Library and Shropshire Archives.  The mobile cabinet is made with reclaimed furniture and is able to host and display a range of materials, sounds and video.

Alongside the responses shared by participants, I put together a series of soundscapes of stories, reflections, and field recordings, with a series of collaborative poems edited by Jean Atkin, and a short film edited by Jill Impey. The soundscapes were installed as audio trails at Old Oswestry Hillfort and at Doctor’s Field in Shrewsbury, and can also be streamed from the Participate website.

Towards the end of the project, we prepared a Field Guide to Connecting: a resource for sharing our experience to help other practitioners deliver multi-cultural community arts and heritage projects effectively. 

The Guide is aimed towards:

• Artist peers/creative practitioners
• Community workers and organisations
• Fundraisers seeking funding for similar projects

To learn more about the project and download the Field Guide to Connecting, visit the project page on the Participate website.

There is an article about the project published by Climate Cultures here.