As part of the Nenescape Landcape Partnership Scheme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Nene Park is working with METAL Peterborough and Thames Festival Trust on an exciting international art and education project that connects young people around the globe to their local river. 

2021

Art Exhibition and Free Activities at Orton Mere & Thorpe Meadows

Rivers of the World is an exhibition of beautiful river-inspired artwork by young people from across the world. Curated by Metal, the exhibition showcases artworks created from across the world including, Peterborough, Hounslow, India, Sudan and more.

The new Rivers of the World exhibition is just one of an exciting programme of Nenescape Landscape Partnership Scheme projects within Nene Park.  The first exhibition can be viewed June to July 2021 and a second exhibition will be on display from August 2021.  The Project links secondary schools in Peterborough, and across the UK, with partner schools in countries overseas. Over two thousand 12 to 14 year olds from across the UK get involved using art to explore the importance of their local rivers and the environmental challenges they face.

Working with the artists the students have created bold new artworks responding to the theme River of Life and Polluted River. The River of Life exhibition explores the habitats and wildlife found in and around rivers and Polluted River portrays how our actions can damage the rivers we depend on and how we can take action to help maintain this precious resource. The students’ ideas have been brought to life through the design, creation and public display of this series of artworks.

The exhibitions are accompanied by two free creative family activities that can be accessed on your mobile phone via a QR code that accompanies the exhibition – or viewed here.

 

River of Life Banner artworks at Thorpe Meadows were created by:

SCHOOLS:
Ethiopia: Menelick II School
Mawali: Namaloma Community Day School
Warrington UK: Bridgewater High School
Newham UK: The Royal Docks Community School
Peterborough UK: City of Peterborough Academy
Sudan: El-Barrary Model School for Girls

ARTISTS:
Martha Hardy, Akula lipenga and Macpherson Ndalama, Kirsty Rae, Shona Watt, Stuart Payn, Rawan Elbadwi

Polluted River Banner artworks at Orton Mere were created by:

SCHOOLS:
Kenya: Lang’ata Junior School
Mawali: Balaka Secondary School
Barking UK: Barking Abbey School
Palestine: Auja Basic Co-Ed School
Peterborough UK: Ken Stimpson Community School
Newham UK: London Design and Engineering UTC

ARTISTS: James Njoroge, Akuli Lipenga and Macpherson Ndalama, Shona Watt, Amer Shomali, Jeni Cairns

 

#RiversOftheWorld #Nenescape #NeneParkArt

Rivers of the World is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund through the Nenescape Landscape Partnership Scheme. Rivers of the World is a Thames Festival Trust project delivered in partnership with the British Council.

       

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Previous Rivers of the World exhibitions

In 2019 students from secondary schools in Peterborough took part in art workshops with local artists Jeni Cairns and Stuart Payn. Students created exciting new banner art works that responded to the River Nene and they were displayed at Orton Mere and Thorpe Meadows. Students also attended a creative workshop at Ferry Meadows, led by Clare Collison, exploring nature and the landscape through words and delivering some amazing live performances of their spoken-word poetry. 

In 2020 artworks by young people in Peterborough will be exhibited in Nene Park, close to the River Nene at Orton Mere and Thorpe Meadows from October 2020 as well as outside Tate Modern Gallery in London.

Following the successful exhibition in 2019, young people in Peterborough created a new series of magnificent river-themed artworks by working remotely with artists Jeni Cairns and Stuart Payn. Due to international lockdowns, the work was generated at home (rather than in school), using digital briefs or short films made by the artists to explore the river and the environment and teach new creative skills. The finished pieces showed young people’s strength of spirit and imagination in the face of Covid-19. Their ideas came together through collective effort and the final designs were exhibited in Nene Park and around the world, connecting everyone in 2020, more aptly then ever!

Peterborough participating schools include: City of Peterborough Academy, Ken Stimpson Community School, Queen Katharine Academy, St John Fisher Catholic High School and Thomas Deacon Academy. Young people from across the city were also involved through a public competition inspired by a poem by Peterborough’s Young Poet Laureate Faith Falayi.

River Nene by Faith Falayi - Peterborough’s Young Poet Laureate

River,

still and blue,

moving on a map.

Inside you, glancing silver bellies flash,

winking ice turquoise, green glimmer splash.

Floating white clouds with wings,

rolling rings across your surface.

Breezing, flowing, breathing,

waving, swelling, easing,

melting, streaming,

swimming,

out to sea.

Rivers of the World is the Thames Festival Trust’s flagship art and education project delivered in partnership with Metal, Nene Park Trust, Nenescape and the British Council. It is supported by  Syntax Poetry Festival and the National Lottery Heritage Fund through Nenescape Landscape Partnership Scheme.

       

Find out more about the project:

https://thamesfestivaltrust.org/read-watch-listen/rivers-of-the-world-2020/

https://thamesfestivaltrust.org/whats-on/rivers-of-the-world-2020-1662/