Epping Forest is a swathe of ancient woodland on the fringes of London which this month provided a magical setting for Epping Forest Arts? ?Charabanc?, writes Carien Meijer.
Charabanc was the brainchild of visual artist Sofie Layton, a long-standing member of the Epping Forest Arts team. Sofie was inspired by the shells of cars abandoned in the forest; cars are always an issue in the Epping Forest district where the public transport infrastructure is poor and people rely heavily on their cars. Old or new, they resonate with stories and Charabanc brought some of these to life.
Charabanc developed into a site-specific large-scale outdoor event, using a variety of media from performance and design to video and dance. It was made around five real cars ? a picnic car, the wedding bed car, the angel car, a skeleton car and the racing demon car ? which became containers for personal stories collected from people all over the district. It contrasted the beauty of these dream-like vehicles with their potential to do harm.
The cars materialised at two sites in Epping Forest ? a disused airfield at Matching Green in the rural north of the district and the Stubbles, on the southerly edge of the forest. By day the cars were an intimate, interactive exhibition where sound and video resonated from glove boxes and car boots. As dusk fell, Charabanc became a performance: angels watched over a family trying to rescue a child, others searched the landscape for the perfect picnic spot, an old couple reminisced? The finale was the ceremonial crushing of the cars, filmed and broadcast on the project?s website, and a video is also being produced to document the project.
Sofie worked with director Mark Storor, composer Michael Szpakowski, video artist Sonja Zelic, writer Sarah Adams, dance artist Jo Thomson and visual artist Anna Boland, all with track records of challenging new work and experience of working with schools and within the community. The performers and co-creators included local residents, students from Epping Forest College and Roding Valley High School, women from a sheltered housing unit and children from High Beech and Matching Green primary schools.
Charabanc is the second phase of ?The Car Project?, a two-year initiative commissioned and produced by Epping Forest Arts. The first phase was a period of research and development when Sofie and Mark worked with groups of children, young people, adults with special needs and older people to explore the meaning of cars in their lives. This led to an exhibition ?Tales and Dream Mobiles? at the Epping Forest District Museum in 2001 and formed the basis for Charabanc.
Charabanc helped us reach new communities in Epping Forest and enhance existing relationships. The two sites let people across the district take part, either as audience members or project participants. Transport to and from the events was organised by us to increase access and give as many people as possible the opportunity to attend.
Carien Meijer is Director of Epping Forest Arts. t: 01992 564551; e: cmeijer@eppingforestdc.gov.uk; w: http://www.somedancersandmusicians.com