This autumn a rich and scenic treasure hunt of art has been unfolding in and around Romney Marsh. It’s exciting to see contemporary artists animating the evocative, historic sites of the medieval churches of Romney Marsh, originally built for the isolated shepherd communities living out on the marsh.
Romney Marsh is an atmospheric place, all low-slung land, crumpled and tufted with grass, with yawning large skies above. There is an otherworldiness to the marsh, caught somewhere between sea and land. There is a sense of fluidity to the landscape – soft underfoot, criss-crossed by waterways, with a humble low-profile that doesn’t impose. The very place itself has a sense of space and airiness, a quietness that allows for clarity of thought, reflection and connection with the land.
The Art in Romney Marsh programming deftly responds to this mood and sense of place. It gently sites small thought-provoking interventions in and around five historic churches. Interventions that often draw a resonance between this permeable landscape and the many queer histories that run through it. Dotted across locations, I had a sense of discovery and exploration – a reason to traverse and immerse myself in the marsh, to spend time in this storied landscape, absorbing a sense of its people, its ecologies and its materials.
If you can, do visit on the last weekend of the programme, from 1-5pm on both the 8th and 9th of October 2022. Visit the AiRM page for all the details, including the all important postcodes and what3word locations!
And in the meantime here are some of my favourite moments from my visit.
