Fans of the Durlston Country Park art exhibitions will be pleased that its latest art offering entitled ‘A Dorset Wanderland’ hasn’t been cancelled but instead it’s been moved online, to be viewed from an appropriate social distance!
What would have been an outdoor arts trail, planned to take place along the cliff top and woodland trail, has now been transformed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, into a website virtual trail, so people can safely participate from their own homes.
Inspire people to connect
A Dorset Wanderland has been created by six students from the Arts University Bournemouth, as the culmination of their final year major project. Its aim is to inspire people to connect with their natural surroundings from wherever they are.
On the website it says:
“Now, more than ever, we are faced with a heightened sense of connectivity with our immediate surroundings and it feels important to reflect on all that these natural surroundings have to offer. The natural world deserves celebration and this online platform gives us all the chance to celebrate it in our own unique ways.”
The project team members, some of then pictured here, are Flora Lewis-Jones, Emily Heaven, Caitlin Powell, Darcy Jack, Max James and Mahan Jeiranzadeh.
In an interview for Swanage News, one of the team members, Caitlin Powell explained how the project developed:
“As soon as we visited Durlston, we all instantly fell in love with the place. We were meant to also visit Hengistbury Head, but after our trip to Durlston we didn’t bother!
“Once back at university, we started organising and creating different art pieces for various points along the walk. We had planned a dance performance to take place at the site of the Globe.
“When we realised that coronavirus restrictions meant all our work was to go to waste, we were really heart broken but then the idea of putting all our ideas into a website came about.
“None of us had created a website before, so it really pushed our own boundaries. We learnt a lot of technical knowledge, really quickly. One of the best things is that we can now reach a much wider audience, not just visitors to Durlston.”
Now last for much longer
Another of the bonuses of digitally developing the art trail, is that it can now last for a much longer period of time. It was originally planned to be a one day event, but now the website will be potentially available to view for the rest of the year.
So what next for the project team, who were meant to graduate on 11th June 2020?
Caitlin replied:
“Under the current situation, as students, we’re trying not to think about the future – none of us know what our plans will be. At least, creating a website is a useful skill to have acquired!
“We’d really like to thank the team at Durlston Country Park – Ali Tuckey, in particular, has been really phenomenal and a great asset in making this all happen!”
