The Working in LANDscapes partners gathered for the first time in person from 25–27 September 2021 in Dorset, UK, hosted by Activate Performing Arts during their flagship biennial festival Inside Out Dorset. This internationally recognised outdoor arts festival is known for placing extraordinary performances in some of the county’s most beautiful and socially significant landscapes — an ideal setting to launch our collaboration.
Our first evening together featured Sense of Unity in Weymouth, a spectacular illuminated parade blending large-scale puppetry, drumming, and pyrotechnics. The following day, we explored the Symondsbury Estate festival site, experiencing work that connected directly with the landscape: Lorna Rees’s Geophonic, an immersive sound installation inspired by the geology beneath our feet; Red Herring’s The Whistlers, a playful, site-specific performance blending absurd humour with local history; Partnering with Earth by The Shouting Mute, a participatory exploration of our relationship to the planet; and Luke Jerram’s Gaia, a stunning large-scale sculpture of the Earth suspended within the landscape.
Monday’s sessions at Dorset Museum marked the official kick-off meeting. Partners shared organisational backgrounds, discussed our shared ambitions and the impact we want to achieve, and began shaping the content of the upcoming study visits in Slovakia and Norway. An introduction to Dorset’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty highlighted the importance of working with and within protected landscapes — a theme at the heart of our project.
The Dorset meeting not only set the tone for our collaboration but also offered a shared experience of how art can inhabit and transform public spaces, weaving together environmental awareness, cultural exchange, and community connection.
