Estuary 2021 Programme
Created by the renowned artist and cartographer, Adam Dant, thisThames Estuary Trail map beautifully illustrates the great stories, histories, pubs and landmarks to be found on the epic 107 mile walk around the Thames Estuary coastline from Shoeburyness to Margate.
A second, special limited edition of the first and to date the only book that decribes the Thames Estuary as one epic 107 mile trail. With new chapters, an extended walk and artworks to discover along the way.
A series of eight artworks to mark the route of the 107 mile walk described in Tom King's book, Thames Estuary Trail, chronicling artist Maria Amidu's enjoyment in discovering both the book and the place.
Beautiful, poetic and moving creative journals kept over the last year by people of all ages, chronicling life by along the Thames Estuary - to be shared through films, posters, murals and window displays.
By US artist Mary Mattingly in partnership with Focal Point Gallery, an ambitious two-part installation, comprising of a learning centre located on Southend Pier, and a floating sculpture moored in nearby waters.
A series of eight artworks to mark the route of the 107 mile walk described in Tom King's book, Thames Estuary Trail, chronicling artist Maria Amidu's enjoyment in discovering both the book and the place.
Tremor at the Edge of Vision: a site-specific walking exploration of The Peregrine is an experimental work that takes its starting point from the masterpiece of nature writing by J.A. Baker.
_Katrina_Palmer,_2021_copy_-_website_large_copy.jpg)
HELLO and RETREAT by Katrina Palmer is a partnership between Estuary 2021 and Waterfronts (England’s Creative Coast).
Dark Line - The Thames Estuary series is a personal reflection on the landscape of the River Thames at its point of connection with the sea.
A series of eight artworks to mark the route of the 107 mile walk described in Tom King's book, Thames Estuary Trail, chronicling artist Maria Amidu's enjoyment in discovering both the book and the place.
Artist-activists Ackroyd & Harvey bring the spirit of rebellion to Wat Tyler Country Park in respect of the place that seeded a peasant revolt over six hundred years ago.
.jpg)
Alongside creative journals created by the estuary community, project lead poets, Selina Nwulu and Caroline Bird also created a beautiful book for use in schools - The Water Replies: Notes on Teaching Contemporary Poetry.
An installation in the tideline at Chalkwell Beach by Issac Cordal. Small figures passively observe the horizon as water rises.
A series of eight artworks to mark the route of the 107 mile walk described in Tom King's book, Thames Estuary Trail, chronicling artist Maria Amidu's enjoyment in discovering both the book and the place.
The well-known quote from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness takes on new meaning as four artist/curators, living in the Thames Estuary invite artists, performers and activists to join them in our online Opening Weekend programme
An English Garden is the Estuary 2021 iteration of How to Make a Bomb, the durational gardening project by artist Gabriella Hirst.
Writer Robert Macfarlane, theatre-maker Zoë Svendsen and sound designer Carolyn Downing are collaborating to stage a re-imagining of Robert’s book, Ness.
A series of eight artworks to mark the route of the 107 mile walk described in Tom King's book, Thames Estuary Trail, chronicling artist Maria Amidu's enjoyment in discovering both the book and the place.
A packed programme of workshops and tours led by Wat Tyler Education and Estuary 2021 artists can be enjoyed throughout the festival at Wat Tyler Country Park.
A conceptual way marker placed at a point where paths diverge, created by artist Jonathan Wright in conversation with park visitors and communities.
_square.jpg)
Short film and additions to an existing walking tour at Wat Tyler Country Park by Angela Chan, on the history and legacies of Britain’s explosives manufacturing.
A creative intervention in the form of walking, listening and gardening, a collaboration between four artists Jo Fong, Sonia Hughes, Lisa Mattocks and Andrew Westle
The People of 1381 Outdoor Exhibition is a comprehensive illustrated overview of one the largest rebellions in the middle ages, with the estuary at its epicentre.
.png)
A year of drawings - a pandemic record, an archive, a call for change. Outdoor exhibition and workshop coincide with an online event to launch Rachael House's new book.
A series of traditional pub style mirrors featuring text channelling the ancient call for social equality and justice and accompanied by an edition of slogan beer mats. Hosted by pubs along the Essex coastline.
A series of traditional pub style mirrors featuring text channelling the ancient call for social equality and justice and accompanied by an edition of slogan beer mats. Hosted by pubs along the Essex coastline.
A series of eight artworks to mark the route of the 107 mile walk described in Tom King's book, Thames Estuary Trail, chronicling artist Maria Amidu's enjoyment in discovering both the book and the place.
A series of traditional pub style mirrors featuring text channelling the ancient call for social equality and justice and accompanied by an edition of slogan beer mats. Hosted by pubs along the Essex coastline.
A series of traditional pub style mirrors featuring text channelling the ancient call for social equality and justice and accompanied by an edition of slogan beer mats. Hosted by pubs along the Essex coastline.
A series of traditional pub style mirrors featuring text channelling the ancient call for social equality and justice and accompanied by an edition of slogan beer mats. Hosted by pubs along the Essex coastline.
Soundworks and digital video by Harun Morrison colliding the poetics of emergency architecture with contemporary predictive sea-level models of the Thames Estuary.
A series of eight artworks to mark the route of the 107 mile walk described in Tom King's book, Thames Estuary Trail, chronicling artist Maria Amidu's enjoyment in discovering both the book and the place.
A series of eight artworks to mark the route of the 107 mile walk described in Tom King's book, Thames Estuary Trail, chronicling artist Maria Amidu's enjoyment in discovering both the book and the place.
By artist Laura Daly, with music by Lucy Pankhurst, an immersive artwork for Chalkwell Park in Southend, that unearths lost bandstands and their buried past.
From the Archive: Rachel Lichtenstein. Episode 2 - Exploring liminal landscapes - a walk with Iain Sinclair
From the Archive: Rachel Lichtenstein. Episode 1 - Between Tide and Sea - a walk with Ken Worpole
A new work by filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman, featuring Phlocus. Made during the summer of 2020, it will premiere at Estuary 2021.
An audio storywalk and map to guide you on a transformative journey around Lesnes Abbey Woods.
A new body of work by artist Shaun C. Badham exploring the history of water wells in the estuary region.
Simon Faithfull shares exerpts of his diary, kept during a 14-day journey across the Atlantic on a container-ship, from the end of Southend Pier.
An exhibition of new calligraphy panels relaying contemporary concepts around ecology, women, plants and land in response to The People of 1381.
Wasted Voyages in the Thames Estuary is a collaboration between YoHa and local people exploring the materiality, culture and history of waste.
Artist collective The Underground Division have created a new immersive installation for the newly transformed Eco Gallery at Wat Tyler Country Park.
An installation by Andy Freeman and Samantha Penn revealing the hidden life cycle of our clothes, and how microplastics make their way into waterways via washing machines.
Sound Mirrors is a trail of unique sound portraits of six locations on the Essex coast - to be discovered as part of the world's first Art GeoTour.
Jasleen Kaur's 'The first thing I did was to kiss the ground’ features a sculpture and a sound-piece sited on Gravesend’s Town Pier and pontoon.
Platform’s project, Crude Britannia, looks at the history, present and future of energy across the expanse of the Thames Estuary.
Alongside the presentation of her moving image work 'Unctuous Between Fingers', Bryony Gillard has created a seaweed pressing video guide.
_2019_square.jpg)
Bryony Gillard’s Unctuous between fingers is a moving image work that explores the archive of pressed seaweeds and algae held by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, collected predominantly by women in the mid-1800s.
Sadie Hennessy will attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest gathering of people in one place dressed as David Bowie.
In the spirit of mail art, Webb-Ellis have exchanged handwritten letters with posthuman philosopher Francesca Ferrando, artist Jade Montserrat, writer Péjú Oshin, and biologist Rupert Sheldrake, around the themes of language, the body, our present moment and possible futures.
'GYG Talks Art' is a video series made by young people at The [email protected] exploring the festival and participating artists through their eyes. In this video they talk to Bob and Roberta Smith at his 'Draw Hope' pavilion in Chatham.
The ZED Zine is a new lifestyle zine written and edited by 16-20 year-olds based at The [email protected] in Gravesham.
'GYG Talks Art' is a video series made by young people at The [email protected] exploring the festival and participating artists through their eyes. In this video they talk to Webb-Ellis about their film 'For The First Baby Born in Space'.
'GYG Talks Art' is a video series made by young people at The [email protected] exploring the festival and participating artists through their eyes. In this video they talk to Sadie Hennessy about her work 'Golden Years' in Gravesend.
Marcus Coates’ 'Our Time' places the songs and calls of locally threatened bird species onto 6 clock towers along the North Kent coastline.
Drawing inspiration from poet Eliza Cook, artist Amy Pennington will perform a short piece to camera on the steps of Ingress Abbey where Eliza stayed, and a number of her works were written.
-square.jpg)
Lydia Brockless' 'Deep Thames // Visit Cretaceous' looks at the materials of Ebbsfleet, and the layers of human and non-human experience contained in the ground beneath our feet.
Emily Whitebread has created a new audio-visual work for Ebbsfleet International Station, through research into the Ebbsfleet Elephant, discovered during the construction of Ebbsfleet International Station.
-square.jpg)
Mikhail Karikis' 'No Ordinary Protest' is a film made with young people, asking whether sound can mobilise socio-political and physical change.
Dzifa Benson has selected seven contemporary poets, who have each recorded one of their poems, which can be heard in the cockle shell vestry at St James’ Church, Cooling.
Marcus Coates’ 'Our Time' places the songs and calls of locally threatened bird species onto 6 clock towers along the North Kent coastline.
Bob and Roberta Smith's 'Draw Hope' pavilion is an outdoor gallery and art-making space sited on the green outside Chatham Library.
Come and take part in workshops with Medway artists Rosa Ainley, Lalita Bailey, Liz Bylett, Wendy Daws, Christopher Sacre, and Hannah Whittaker at the Draw Hope pavilion.
Phil Coy's 'Grain' is a disembodied sound score for an unseen film, installed within the ‘No. 3 Covered Slip’ in Chatham’s Historic Dockyard.
Carol Donaldson and Stephen Turner, are set to escape to the North Kent Marshes in a small inflatable boat called Magwitch. For five days they will survey the wetlands and wildlife on their own doorstep, camping in remote locations.
Feral Practice & Esi Eshun's Lissener is a new, darkly comic audio work responding to the human and nonhuman histories of the ruined Oare Gunpowder Works.
Marcus Coates’ 'Our Time' places the songs and calls of locally threatened bird species onto 6 clock towers along the North Kent coastline.
Something & Son's 'Trolley Reef' is a long term project and artwork to create a new oyster reef in North Kent, using supermarket trolleys.
Marcus Coates’ 'Our Time' places the songs and calls of locally threatened bird species onto 6 clock towers along the North Kent coastline.
Marcus Coates’ 'Our Time' places the songs and calls of locally threatened bird species onto 6 clock towers along the North Kent coastline.
Simon Faithfull's '26 Days on the Southern Ocean' is a series of text panels mounted onto the railings of Margate Harbour Arm.
Maggie Harris 'and the thing is' is a poem about immigration, and questions about race, exile, and how we find identity and home.
Marcus Coates’ 'Our Time' places the songs and calls of locally threatened bird species onto 6 clock towers along the North Kent coastline.
Ten short films responding to the festival’s themes of climate, imperial legacy and rebellion curated by Gareth Evans.
To open and close the Estuary 2021, you are invited to write and share your 'Letter to the Earth' as part of an accumulating exhibition of your words and messages, visions and hopes for a better future.
Patrick Wright & Shona Illingworth will broadcast a conversation recorded as they walk on Sheppey, alongside readings by local residents.
Curated by Gareth Evans, this series of conversations continue Estuary 2021's investigation into the deep and layered history of our place and its connections to current social and political concerns, both here in the UK and overseas.
Rachel Lichtenstein joins Iain Sinclair and Gareth Evans to talk about her research connecting Jewish history from her home in the Thames Estuary, to London, Europe and the Caribbean Island of Barbados.
Join us as we discover over 150 years of military and historical heritage associated with Gunners Park.
Adam Chodzko's The Return of the Fleet Spring Heads is a science fiction audio walk (via headphones), in and around Northfleet.
A series of individual responses to Adam Chodzko's 'The Return of the Fleet Spring Heads' by a group of BA Fine Art students from Central Saint Martins.
Artist-activists Ackroyd & Harvey bring the spirit of rebellion to Wat Tyler Country Park in respect of the place that seeded a peasant revolt over six hundred years ago.
Artist Lata Uphadyaya is travelling around the estuary from her home in Thurrock in the white Ford Transit van that she has transformed into a travelling art and conversation space.
RTM.FM presents a day of specially commissioned artworks made for online radio broadcast in response to our festival themes.
A series of newly commissioned artworks in and around the iconic Lakeside Centre in Thamesmead, showing a growing creative community in the Thames Estuary Production Corridor.
A unique social art project to unveil, hand-scribe, and discuss a new original document – The Universal Declaration of Climate Rights (UDCR) – which upholds the intrinsic value of landscapes, ecosystems, sentient and non-sentient species, and a greenhouse-gas-stable atmosphere.
Artist-activists Ackroyd & Harvey bring the spirit of rebellion to Wat Tyler Country Park in respect of the place that seeded a peasant revolt over six hundred years ago.
Four contemporary writers respond to the remote and inaccessible Suttons Manor, one of the oldest and most enigmatic houses of the Thames Estuary.
The Lesnes Hundred by Eric MacLennan is a socially engaged piece of art offering members of the public the opportunity to name a tree after someone important to them.
Alison Cooke has distributed 100 balls of clay from the Thames Estuary to local people to make Future Archaeology.
A site-specific performance conceived by Arbonauts, artists Helen Galliano and Dimitri Launder, which imagines a dystopian future of rising sea levels.
'Nattsong' is an extraordinary new multi-sensory stage work in which poet–performer Caroline Bergvall takes an immersive journey into language, refuge and the night.
Principal Partners
Major Partners
Commissioning Partners
Festival Partners
Festival Supporters
© 2020 Metal and Cement Fields
Metal at Chalkwell Hall
Chalkwell Avenue
Southend-on-Sea
Essex
SS0 8NB
T: +44 (0) 01702 470700
Cement Fields
School of Arts
Jarman Building
The University of Kent
Canterbury CT2 7UG
T: +44 (0) 01227 824350
