RURALities: Kipsi installation in the Gypsy Vardo collection

Until Thursday 8 July: Worcestershire County Museum are delighted to be hosting an innovative art installation by Dan Turner, commissioned by Meadow Arts as part of the RURALities project. The installation is on display amongst our Gypsy waggon (‘Vardo’) collection. Displaying the work within a Vardo links the past with the present and draws attention to our magnificent collection. Visit the Meadow Arts website for more information on RURALities.

Meadow Arts say…

Dan Turner is an artist of Romani heritage, originally from Kent. Within his practice, Turner examines how Gypsy, Roma and Traveller cultures meet and interact with the dominant culture through the art forms of sculpture, video and painting. Working with migration maps of Roma diasporas, and using traditional crafts and occupations such as; herbalism, peg and wooden flower making, and fortune-telling – Turner re-imagines Roma past, present and future to challenge mainstream culture’s view of Roma identities.

In Kipsi, Turner has considered the transient nature of the Roma people by utilising new digital ways of working to produce a video work that carries on traditions of storytelling.

“The work is also shaped by the COVID-19 crisis and, though not directly linked to it, the piece could not have been made outside this context. It is a meditation on the past, the present and the future, reflecting and exploring how Romani Contemporary Art can support the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and its values, and provide an alternative form of activism in tackling structural inequality.” – Dan Turner.

Siting the work within a Vardo wagon opens a window, and reveals a different time, space, and memory, blurring historical and contemporary Roma experiences together.

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Plan your visit to Worcestershire County Museum at Hartlebury Castle here – find opening times, admission prices and more.