There's wonder in the air at Newquay orchard as a brand new monolith has landed .
it was our pleasure to welcome it this week with dancing , hugs and a little bit of our wilding magic sprinkled on it to wish it well in it's new home .
This monolith is part of the new 'Newquay pilgrim trail " linking three monoliths from the barrowfields to nansledon ❤️
A very special art project indeed brought to the community and built by the community headed up by the creative folk at @almaartspace and masterminded by the incredible artist that is @bro_mate
“Landscape isn’t just a physical thing; it’s there within us.”
We are thrilled to welcome the incredible @bro_mate to the Festival. They will be appearing @ashburtonarts today, Saturday 2nd May at 11am, in an event called Art, Place and the Ancients: remaking the past. Robin will be chatting with @lithicality about their fascinating work which bridges sculpture and performance and is deeply rooted in the prehistory of the British Isles.
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Also today @ashburtonarts we have at 0930 @rebeccambeattie in “Bewitched by Dartmoor , 12:30 Archaeologist Dr Lee Bray with Traces of Our Ancestors, and 14:00 @stone_lands@mssophiepierce@kirsteen.mcnish with Love Loss and Landscape
Then, if that were not enough, there will be a Mummers Play at @field.system at 1530 followed by the fantasic @grimspoundmorris and @newton_bushel_morris dancing outside @ashburtonarts
Full deets on website - link in bio -
Come join us it’s going to be a fabulous day !
Two Together residency | Artist pair spotlight
Reflecting on their recently completed Two Together Residency at @PorthmeorStudios , Claye Bowler (@clayebowler ) and Robin Sullivan (@bro_mate ) discuss the evolution of their collaborative enquiry into the material site of Cornwall:
‘Initially visiting neolithic stones, and locations of known queer history, the residency evolved into an in-depth inquiry mapping the local landscape and specifically the many holes of west Cornwall.
We explored the functionality and interactivity of these holes. Re-categorising them as portals, hiding places, cruising sites, sites of voyeuristic entrapment, or of elemental penetration.’
🔵 The Two Together: Porthmeor Studios Residencies is an open call residency for pairs of visual artists held in partnership between @FreelandsFoundation and Borlase Smart John Wells Trust. Two Together enables an artist to invite a new person into their practice as a basis for peer learning through open-ended exchange and material exploration, living and working together across a month-long residency at the historic @PorthmeorStudios in St Ives.
Photos: Alban Roinard (@alban_roinard ).
Making megaliths from scratch is a wonderous thing. Even more so when these are bringing people together today just as they did in the past.
Robin Sullivan, one of the most innovative artists working with place and pre-history anywhere, will be talking about his new additions to the megalithic landscape of Britain as a fantastic addition to the @dartmoortorsfest line up. Robin has kindly stepped in at the last minute to replace Peter Randall Page, who sadly will be unable to join us due to ill health (get better soon Peter x). Like all of us Robin has been very much inspired by Peter's art and the landscapes of moor and stone that they both live and work in.
@bro_mate works with clay and other materials to make deeply personal and engaging social artworks that bridge sculpture and performance including spectacular open air ceramic firings. Recent works include a major new public art commission for Newquay making 3 new megaliths in bronze from over 400 casts of places around the town that people there feel are special. The hope is that these will become new meeting places and sites of community. Proudly queer and very open about his bi-polar disorder Robin brings new perspectives to ancient ideas.
So please support Robin by coming to his talk - Art, Place and the Ancients: Remaking the past - on Saturday 2nd May 11:00 at Ashburton Arts Centre @ashburtonarts More information through the Dartmoor Tors Festival website – link in bio.
#megaliths #ancientstones #westcountry #contemporaryart #festival
@bro_mate and I are having an open studio this coming Saturday at 5 Porthmeor Studios in St Ives, Cornwall 1-5pm
We've been here in Cornwall for the last month exploring the mythic, neolithic & explicit landscape
Ps, if delving into our expansive, deep, cavenous, veiny..research isn't enough for you..it's also St Ives kite festival just around the corner 1-3pm too
Two together residency supported by Freelands Foundation
@freelandsfoundation@porthmeorstudios
First two weeks of two together residency with @bro_mate at @porthmeorstudios with @freelandsfoundation !
We've been thinking a lot about holes, types of holes, function of holes
Holes as hiding places, visibility, temptation, voyeurism, secrets, portals, emotion
We're also having an open studio in 2 weeks to close our residency on 28th March, 1-5pm. Studio 5
(Don't let the photos fool you, there's been 30-50mph wind which blows every different type of weather throughout the day, everyday)
Great workshop today with @sophiemeyer8485 from @queer_kernow at @kresenkernow
We explored the coldstores of Kresen Kernow, (contains 14 miles of shelving over two floors) and learnt how to research Queer experience in archives.
It was a really eyeing opening day and brought right to the front how emotive this work is. Queererasure and Queer oppression and criminalisation, but what was uplifting about the day was meeting lots of other great people and seeing the incredible work of @queer_kernow and others. A group carefully studying and working incredible hard to find, document, make accessible and preserve queer stories otherwise lost for ever. Thank you for giving us our history back and ensuring generations to come will be able to see themselves in the record of time.
Made a furnace, melted some Cornish tin and made a mini stone circle… obvs
In 2026 I really want to spend time playing in the studio and learning new skills so this is a great start! Lots and lots and lots to learn. 🔥🔥🔥
The third and final Newquay monolith is nearly there… it’s in a tent, in the barn, with a little heater desperately trying to get to the plaster jacket dry… so I’m playing in the meanwhile… last week I just sat around waiting for it to dry and it was miserable. This week I’m channeling a friend and trying to make the most of each day and what’s in front of me!
Excited to announce that I have been invited to be Resident Artist at Tate St Ives 2025-2026. @tatestives
Over the next year I will co-create an arts programme working with the brilliant YAY! (Young & Yourself) group from LGBTQIA+ Intercom Trust, working both onsite at Tate St Ives, Intercom Trust @intercomtrust in Truro and field trips across Cornwall!
Using my own practice and the interests of the group as a starting point, the project will explore ancient and scared sites of multiplicity, what queer space means to us and points of geographic connection with the group, their experiences of living as LGBTQIA+ people in Cornwall, and works in Tate’s collection.
As someone that grew up queer in a small fishing village in Cornwall, It feels wonderful to have the opportunity to work with this group, and the brilliant curators and facilitators at Tate.
As the world feels like it’s collapsing in on itself and Queer lives are targeted more and more in politics, online and in the streets I have wanted to focus my energy on working with people from my community.
This project has arisen at a perfect time and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity. Oh so looking forward to a year of wonderfully queer collaboration across cornwall! First 📸 @ingridpop_
Mould making moments 🪨🕯️Winter is drawing in and the only light in my studio on the moors is candlelight… it’s actually really annoying but everyone says how romantic it is, so here’s some romantic shots of my work under candle light whilst I freeze my tits off in the dark. ❤️
