Redrawing the map of East England through stories and reflections

New Geographies is an Arts Council England funded project creating a new map of the East of England based on personal thoughts, reflections and stories of unexplored or over-looked places, rather than on historic or economical centres. The first phase of the project invited members of the public to nominate locations for the map in the Summer of 2017.

We were delighted to see over 40 nominations for Hatfield, St Albans and wider Hertfordshire. You can see these by visiting the website and zooming in.

Artists have been invited to respond to the sites nominated by the public, and up to 10 new artworks will be commissioned. The art commissions will be delivered over the next two years (2018 – 2019). The commissions will incorporate a wide range of ideas and art forms. It may not be a permanent sculpture and could involve events, performance and temporary structures in the landscape. All commissions will in some way respond to some of the nominated locations; either individual locations, themes or other unexpected connections.

The selected artists were announced in May, and UHArts are delighted to be working with Krijn de Koning and Stuart Whipps. With their varied approaches, both artists are now researching and working towards their final commission in 2019. We will keep updating on their progress through our social media platforms.

New Geographies is supported by Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence strategic fund and lead by the ECVAN. ECVAN is chaired and coordinated by Wysing Arts Centre. New Geographies of the East will be jointly delivered by Art Exchange, University of Essex Colchester; East Gallery, Norwich University of the ArtsFirstsite, Colchester; Focal Point Gallery, Southend; Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge; Norwich Castle Museum & Art Galleryoriginalprojects, Great Yarmouth; UHArts, University of Hertfordshire; Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge. Support also comes from the full ECVAN steering committee, eight community partners and three Dutch partners.

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