The Ecologies of Hilbre Island, an event for Being Human Festival 2024.

This event was part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, which took place on the 8th of November 2024. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org. The Creative Expedition on Hilbre couldn’t have been possible without the support of British Art & Design Association (BADA) and the Hilbre Community Land Trust.

Overview of the event
Through storytelling, observational drawing, poetry and performance, we looked closely at how the land, sea and humans interconnect.

It has been 165 years since Charles Darwin published ‘On the Origin of Species’; a landmark text in evolutionary biology. To mark this occasion, we invited the public to join us on an expedition to Hilbre Island, a landmark in the river Dee estuary and our ‘Galapagos’ in the North West of England. We embarked on a creative investigation of the island’s ecologies through storytelling, observational drawing, poetry and performance, looking closely at how the land, sea and humans interconnect.

The place for the Creative Expedition
Access to Hilbre island is via a walked pilgrimage across the mudflats of the Dee estuary from West Kirkby, much like expeditions undertaken by 'gentleman explorers' such as Charles Darwin during the Victorian era. As a tidal location, attendees were introduced to the day on the Wirral mainland, then walk to the island and spend approx. 4 hours on the island itself, before returning.

The Creative Expedition day
We started the day with an audio guided tour ‘Steps in Time’: which entailed a walk of the island (the audio guide comprised of a history of the island, oral histories and scientific observations). On arrival to the island attendees were invited to join two workshops: Impressions (by @luhermida.art) or Bird Taxonomies (by @citizensciart). On Impressions people where invited to document the geomorphical patterns of the island through drawing, charcoal rubbings and creative writing, with group discussion at the end. Bird Taxonomies involved a field sketching workshop to develop a phylogenetic map of the island’s fauna, with also a group discussion at the end.
To finish the day, a poetry performance performed in costumes that turned the performers into the sandstone and native sea lavenders invited everyone to gather in the old buoymaster’s workshop (one of the oldest buildings on the island) to listen to the poetry written by acclaimed writer and poet Yvonne Reddick (@yvonnereddickwriter) with singing by Professor Gerry Smyth [listen to the poetry here].

Brief outline of humanities research
With Hilbre island noted to succumb to coastal erosion in approximately 100 years, it an important yet transient landmark. This event is part of a wider practice-led research project that documents Hilbre Island’s ecologies and histories. ‘The Three Ecologies’ by Felix Guattari influences the concept of ecosystem and its boundaries. Hilbre’s ecologies: human (us), water (sea) and land (rock formations) will be observed, recorded and investigated, through oral histories, poetry, drawing and performance, leading to the documentation of Hilbre’s ecosystem and contemplation about our symbiotic relationship with the island through beneficial exchange.

Aims
The project aimed to link people with Hilbre island as a site of Special Scientific Interest and eroding landmark, with the aim to amplify local voices. We wanted participants to feel that their experience/knowledge was welcomed and encourage more endemic knowledge sharing between the local community and research groups; focusing on place-based activities that give people the tools to undertake their own creative investigations.

Outcomes
Legacy artworks (2D prints and QR codes to audio guides) were produced for the event and installed on Hilbre Island Telegraph station, with smaller artwork reproductions posted to attendees after the event. 

People declared feeling differently after experiencing the series of activities, looking at Hilbre island from a different perspective. As a researcher, I realised about the importance of implementing the arts and humanities research methods embedded within the creative expedition - through active listening, visual observation and creative documentation.