Join artist and academic, Ian Bride, for a fascinating introduction to the geology and ecology of North Sheppey and how this place has changed over time.
The Isle of Sheppey lies at the mouth of the River Thames in Swale. Historically a collection of land masses, the channels between the islands gradually silted up to create one landmass. A mixture of clay and marsh criss-crossed with inlets and drainage channels, over time the island has been moulded by the sea and other environmental forces, together with human action.
Sheppey’s geology is rich in fossils, which are regularly liberated by the slippage of cliffs and erosion from the North Sea. It is also a green oasis, with wetland habitats supporting an enormous range of birdlife, and even a population of scorpions imported on a visiting ship in the 1860s.
Ebb & Flow Part I is part of the wider project Intertidal Allotment with artist Andrew Merritt. Our spring 2024 events programme invites people to imagine the possibilities for a new community allotment on the north coast of Sheppey. Together we will walk, talk and eat along the coast, learn how to identify coastal flora and fauna, explore the history of the shoreline and speculate on the future of allotments.
Intertidal Allotment is kindly supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Public engagement is supported by Ideas Test.
This event is generously supported by Sheppey Matters.
Off The Broadway, Sheerness ME12 1HH
Ian’s creative practice is founded upon many years as an interdisciplinary academic, teacher, researcher and practitioner working in biodiversity conservation, environmental education, and anthropology. He keenly explores and communicates human/nature discourses through a practice that engages with objects (natural and human-made), representation, and a wide range of processes. In so doing, he draws upon considerable knowledge and experience gained from his previous occupations, coupled with his training in creative arts and as a professional woodworker. This has meant that much of his art has involved wood in one form or another. Yet he is comfortable experimenting with almost any materials and ways of making, by ‘releasing’ exotic creatures from driftwood, ‘collaborating’ with wood ants over several years to produce L’antscrape art, or giving ‘voice’ to sentinel trees that have been observing and casting judgement on human activities. Ian Bride is Emeritus Reader in Biodiversity Management at University of Kent.