Programme

Feral Practice & Marcus Coates

Ash Walks #4

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

Ash Walks, Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, 2018. Photo: Matthew de Pulford

The ash tree is the most common tree in the Kent Downs but in 2012, ash dieback (caused by the fungal pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) was discovered in the U.K. and the disease has rapidly spread. Ash dieback is untreatable and could see the demise of up to 98% of these trees over the next decade.

The Ash Project is a cultural response to ash dieback, asking how we might mark and celebrate ash trees. In 2018, The Ash Project is working in partnership with Whitstable Biennale to present a series of artists’ walks. Curator Rose Thompson has devised four walks in collaboration with artists, encouraging different ways of looking at and exploring the landscape in Kent.

The fourth and final walk in the 2018 Ash Walk series was hosted by artists Marcus Coates and Fiona Macdonald : Feral Practice. Taking place in Folkestone, this participatory walk extended upon the artists’ Ask The Wild project held at Whitechapel Gallery (London) in February 2018 in which the artists asked: If birds could offer advice on human problems, what would they say? The project also examined entrenched issues and thorny problems found in nature and, during this walk, unexpected pathways of creative thinking found in nature and everyday life, will be opened up. They were joined on the walk by Tony Harwood, Resilience and Emergencies Manager for Kent County Council.

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