Stories From the garden
TANIWHA THE DRAGON IN STOP START ANIMATION
The mythical story of Taniwha the Dragon has travelled with us over the past year as we have explored the history of the hidden River Fleet alongside local children, young people and adults, as part of our Voices of the Water project. Together we imagine and create and think of the possibilities of what can be done to bring Taniwha back, alongside the fish and the trees that she needs to survive.
WATER AND WELLBEING
As part of our Voices of the Water project, we have worked with people of all backgrounds and ages to explore the healing benefits of water, alongside and interconnected with the cultural stories and importance of water in our climate changed world.
WATER AND CLIMATE
How could a local community project draw awareness to the importance of water for the future of all creatures and design opportunities for its appreciation and protection? Through stillness and story sharing, weaving unwanted textiles, building with reclaimed materials, shaping clay, cooking together, and creating a garden on water, we have connected with the cycles of nature.
WATER AND STORIES
Water is central to creation myths of every indigenous culture, from Osun, Goddess of the Yoruba people of West Africa, to Tangaroa and Kiwa, deities of the Māori of Polynesia, and it is crucial in the story of Sky Woman of the Patawatomi people. Mermaids, wells, shells, fish, waves, rivers, sea dragons, teardrops, and more, become symbols in stories and tales from all over the world.
VOICES OF THE WATER: IMMERSE YOURSELF
As part of our Voices of the Water project we have come across so many amazing books, films and projects which explore and recognise the importance of water in our lives and on Earth, from which we find inspiration. Here we share some of these resources for you to explore.
CONSIDERING WATER'S CONNECTION WITH CLIMATE
Cassie is attending Uni evening classes in Environment and Sustainability, learning about human and physical geography)
In 2009, Johan Rockström gathered scientists to observe the main human factors affecting the environment, all of which came up with nine and classified them as 'planetary boundaries'.
NAVIGATING THE JOY IN MAKING
I wonder if maps are used more often than ever before? Digital, never ending maps on our tiny screens, suggested modes of transportation, how long each of them will take, the paths we should follow, the things we will see along the way. Some other entity has mapped out the routes we take. We are removed from our surroundings and our sense of adventure. You feel it most when your phone dies and you have to rely on bus stop maps, a sixth sense, is this way north?
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH?!
The darker, colder months brought their usual challenges this past Winter at Albion Primary School. Malaika and I work with the children, from ages 5-11, in the forest school space where we have 5 teenage hens, plenty of space to explore and a number of growing beds where we are growing herbs, fruits, vegetables and salads.
Amongst the busy London streets lay creative activism
Maroua shares her experience as a young Global Generation Fellow who participated and supported younger children in a Voices of the Water performance as part of UCL Cultures ‘Performing Planet Activism’ Event.
Paddling and flowing in urgent times
When Silvia came into the garden last week, I asked her how she was, she took her headphones out of her ears, and responded with a big smile ‘Very inspired!’ I was curious and wanted to feel inspired too.
Ear to the ground
Waking to the sound of my cat meowing and yowling for her breakfast 17 minutes before my alarm is set to jingle me awake. The bubbling of my limescale-caked kettle reaching a boil.
How the Story Garden grows: Jan 2023
Winter is one of my favourite times in the Garden. I love spending wet afternoons in the cosy back office rifling through leftover seeds, misty mornings pruning soft fruit bushes and cold but sunny days turning the steaming(!!) compost. This year, we’re trialling reduced working hours and programme delivery during January and February to align with the rhythms of the seasons, spend time reflecting on the year that has passed and planning for the future.
Voices of the Water - Stories in Action
Salina Khatun is a primary teacher and CEO of Kindle Corner as well as a local Somers Town resident. She and her team of storytellers have joined the Voices of the Water team by running water themed storytelling afternoons with young children and their parents, grandparents and guardians.
Gardens of a thousand hands
Recently I had a call with Jan Kattein, the architect Global Generation has worked with since 2015 when we collaborated to make the last Skip Garden. Jan is writing a book called London made by Londoners, and he was interviewing me for a chapter about Global Generation.
Voices of the Water
2022 saw the beginning of our Sign/Voices of The Water Program as we explored the hidden story of the River Fleet which flows under our feet in Kings Cross. Together with children and families from Brecknock and Torriano Primary Schools and Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children we explored the River Fleet through storytelling, art, movement and adventures.
Looking back on 2022
As we approach the end of 2022 and the darkest days of the year, we enter into a natural time to pause and reflect. Last week we held our winter away day and came together as a team to look back on our work. There were so many individual and collective highlights to the year, with the overriding one being a sense of togetherness and appreciation for what each and everyone brings. For me this year has been a year of moving, transitioning and coming together.
NAVIGATING A NEW CHAPTER
When Martina passed the baton of ‘barge mama’ on to me earlier in the year, I remember feeling both excited and daunted. Although I grew up by the water, I had no experience of living or working on a boat; this was as much new territory for me as it was for Global Generation.
Growing Techniques at the Story Garden
As the winter sets in, the garden slows down; trees lose their leaves, plants hunker down or die back, there’s a crispness to the air, a glow to the sun, new birds appear and some start for the south.
RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival - July 2022
This year we are delighted to have showcased a piece of our inner city oasis at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, the world-renowned flower show. We wanted to inspire visitors to reimagine what the Story Garden feels like, with the different elements and layers of stories that are created in the garden. Built for, and by, the local community.
A DRAGON EMERGES AT PHOENIX COURT
The spirit of the ancient river flows through our environment, connecting and weaving threads of experience from across the community, calling along the banks to bridge distant shores and differences, bringing people together through the sharing of stories. As the sun starts to warm the earth in spring, the sleeping dragon awakens and roars life into our tales and mysteries, and the world comes into life and light.