As you hopefully will have heard, the weekend of the 13-14 July 2019 is our Midsummer Meander. The West Oxford Fun Day will be river-themed, and we’ll be there with junk artist Groovy Su making some fun river-themed creations. Osney Lock Hydro will be launching its new opening times. And local residents and businesses will be turning their front window(s)/garden into a river themed picture or scene for the weekend.
So far we’ve got about 15 spots to form the trail, but we’re keen to get a few more sign-ups. We think it is going to be great fun – both the process of creating some sort of picture/scene/installation, and also going on the trail to see what others have done.
Whilst we’re really chuffed that a number of very talented local artists have signed up to create something, installations can be big, small, and anything in-between – and you certainly don’t need to be an artist to create one and get involved.
Here are a couple of ideas, to get you thinking. Have a read, sign up and see what you can come up with!
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Get 5 neighbours to join you to host one letter each from the iconic ‘ENOUGH’ sign from the 2007 floods – a sign which marked the birth of Low Carbon West Oxford.- Think about what threatens our local river, or think about what it has to offer to you, and make something based on that.
- Make some river creatures out of the plastic which plagues them: https://pin.it/tqv4y2hwwll6aa
- Take inspiration from a book. I recently read Diane Setterfield’s ‘Once Upon a River’, a delicious combination of evocative writing, an intriguing plot and the beautiful backdrop of our river and its banks. This description (picture below) of the peceived and actual movement and flow or water from a river is wonderful, and could inspire a window or two. And of course there’s also Philip Pullman, Wind In the Willows…
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- Plant up an old boat!
- Head out on the river with an instant camera or two and take a series of snaps to capture what you see and what you love.
- Take inspiration from recent river-themed news… https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/search/?search=river.
- Create an installation with river-dwelling stuffed toys.
- Do a riverside litter-pick/treasurehunt and display your findings.
- Paint an underwater scene on your window, or make a window mosaic.
- Watch the Olympics 2012 Isles of Wonder and make something inspired by that – or project it on a nearby wall./li>
- Think back to the 2007 floods – what was your street like?
- Foodie? Display some of your favourite river-based ingredients…
- Got a cool old fashioned swimsuit or two, or perhaps a river-themed item of clothing you could display?
Got another idea? Go for it!
Sign up to participate here: https://www.windowwanderland.com/event/west-oxford-2019/
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