Rite of May

May 2021.  Another spring, another lockdown. 

The debate about COVID rages on, as does the virus. This nation is divided, seemingly as profoundly as it was about Brexit, only the lines are drawn a little differently. One similarity are the tensions between the UK and the European Union. But we are not an island and we can no longer pretend we are. What happens in the most far-flung places on the planet impacts all of us, wherever we are, only now with a vigour that is impossible to deny.

Rite of May intends to show this global impact on what has traditionally been a very Western European tradition: dancing around a Maypole.  In place of the traditional colourful ribbons, I cut strips from recycled hospice bed linen, with the names of every one of the 195 countries in the world.  In the absence of joyous dancing, the ribbons are woven around the pole, in a silent tribute to absent friends and family. 

Installation with sound. Dimensions: Height: 2.5 m , Width 5.5 by 5.5 m