The Lost Words, due out this autumn is a response from nature writer Robert Macfarlane and author illustrator Jackie Morris to 'spell words' back into the landscape which have been falling away from our children's common usage. As part of the launch there is to be an exhibition of Jackie's illustrations at the Compton Verney gallery and Storywalks will be taking these walks out into the grounds so visitors get the chance to literally spell and pace them back into the landscape.
A few weeks ago I visited the incredible gallery and gave a little demonstration of Storywalks in the grounds and happened across 'The Clearing' a post apocalyptic retreat which will have a range of 'residents' across the coming months. The dome of 'The Clearing' is pictured and is a really brave step for the gallery to embrace and welcome a range of artists into their grounds.
The current plan for The Lost Words is to create three trails, the first two of which can be accessed openly, though you will need to in the grounds to actually walk and reveal them. The third will be hidden inside your gallery ticket, with a secret key word to unlock this and spell more words back into the landscape.
In Jackie's words, “I want The Lost Words to delight the mind and the eye and send children to sleep dreaming of wild things.”
The exhibition of Jackie Morris' illustrations as well as the site specific (and spell binding) Storywalk will be open from Sat 21 October 2017 – Sun 17 December 2017, 11.00am – 5.00pm
Here is a link to the Compton Verney Gallery