We received this from Lyndsey Harrison of http://alturnertive.com :
“What happened to us? Where did our creativity go?”
Alturnertive, an artist-led group aiming to provide opportunities to show the best of Kent’s emerging artists and art students have gone that little bit further for their new and exciting show. With an idea to encourage the residents of Kent to participate within the Arts, Alturnertive have provided the opportunity for residents, not necessarily associated with the Arts, to contribute towards their new show. This project, 100 Journals, which has been inspired by the original Journals Project in the States, has over a thousand participants from Kent and beyond taking part. This includes Universities, schools, a hospice, a local neighbourhood project for vulnerable groups and even an RAF squadron in Afghanistan. Alturnertive have sent 100 journals to various locations. The first person who receives one of the journals, simply fills in a few pages with anything they like (for example: a collage, painting, drawing, or writing) and then passes it to the next person on the list. The journals will travel around each area until the end of January, visiting all on their list and finally being returned to Alturnertive. The travelling journals project will culminate into a week long show displayed at the Herbert Read Gallery in the University of Creative Arts, Canterbury.
This exhibition will allow the people involved to come together and see their final creations, as well as giving others the chance to interact and participate with the show. Alturnertive’s director Caron Ottewell said; “I am amazed at the excitement that this project has generated. It was initially to be a Kent-based project, but we received requests from outside of the county and decided to extend it. 99% of participants come from Kent and we have people involved all over the county. We have over 300 individuals plus schools, colleges and university students, offices, libraries, a health centre and neighbourhood project. We even have a couple of journals travelling out to Afghanistan with an RAF Squadron. It is an incredible result and we can’t wait to see the journals when they are returned”.
The exhibition for the 100 Journals is on show at The Herbert Read Gallery, UCA, Canterbury from the 16th – 20th February 2010, with the Private View being held on Tuesday the 16th February from 18:00 – 21:00.
For any further information regarding the project or the show, please contact Caron Ottewell on alturnertiveshows@googlemail.com
