Leskernick Project Forum - whose landscape?

From: Adrian Watts Your article ('Art and the Re-Presentation of the Past') is very interesting. But it contains a factual error in the first paragraph, viz: '... an on-going landscape archaeology project centered on Leskernick Hill, Bodmin Moor in the south-west of England.' Surely you mean Britain, not England? Is Cornwall really part of England? Are English artworks in the Cornish landscape, and literature relating to them, in truth just part of the long history of English colonialism in the far South West peninsula of Britain? Is this cultural imperialism part of modern Cornwall's problems, or a positive contribution to mutual understanding and respect on both sides of the Tamar? If such artworks are to succeed 'as a powerful and empowering means of interpreting the past in the present' are they intended to benefit the host land, landscape and people of the country into which they are projected or merely another case of the outsider exploiting the host community? Whose past is to be interpreted, and who is to be empowered today, at whose expense? The 'practices of interpreting the past and producing art' may not 'result in the production of something new transforming our understanding of place and space resulting in the creation of new meaning', if those practicing are ignorant of the place they are working in to begin with. My understanding of Leskernick Hill, Bodmin Moor, Kernow and Dumnonia past and present, especially given the social and political realities of modern Britain, suggest that certain types of artwork may be culturally misconceived. Indeed, 'ideas about 'femaleness' and mother godesses being embedded in the contours of the British countryside' presuppose an understanding of contemporary definitions of Britishness. These are not synonymous with Englishness - especially in Cornwall in the late 1990s. 'The social and meaningful messages of contemporary environmental art work best, and are most powerful, in our opinion, when they are expressing ecological and political concerns about the environment today as opposed to claiming any mythical or religious content or connection with the past.' Absolutely. So whose concerns, whose environment, did these artworks on Leskernick Hill benefit most in terms of enhanced meaning - the winners or the losers in the unequal contemporary power contest between Englishness and Cornishness? Given the evils of ethnic division and hatred in contemporary Europe, such distinctions matter to many people who regard themselves as Cornish in Cornwall today - and to all of us as Europeans (or simply as human beings). Unthinking English cultural imperialism is potentially Serbian in its implications, as the history of the political relationships across the Tamar demonstrate only too readily. The English may never remember, but many Cornish may not forget Athelstan's statutes, for example . . . 'The past is simply being raided ... ' as you put it. The present is too, in Cornwall, these days, as so often before. 'The most significant point about contemporary environmental art for our work in the Leskernick project is its relationship to landscape and aesthetics: work being created in the landscape and 'artfully' being related to space and place.' Not that artfully, except in the sense of Dickens' Artful Dodger, perhaps. Whose pocket has been picked at Leskernick? Some in England may not miss a silk handkerchief here or there now, just as in Dickens' day, but there are few enough of those articles in Cornish pockets nowadays, or much else for that matter, as so often during the last ten centuries . . . 'Whether or not we want to consider a prehistoric stone circle an aesthetically pleasing sculpture, the specific relationship of the monument to place and the relationship of place to the surrounding landscape remains fundamental.' Indeed - whether one is English, Cornish, Welsh, Breton, Serb or Croat. Such a shame to make such a fundamental error in striving so hard and yet failing, therefore, to relate to the country in which the whole Leskernick project took place. Or is the landscape in question simply a commodity for consumption by visitors from across the Tamar? You say: 'We conceive of the role of art in the Leskernick project as a means to renegotiate a relationship with the past, a response to our existential alienation from that past. We work in an unpopulated village which has been abandoned for over two and a half thousand years. We create a sense of presence through our own contemporary experience of the hill and through the process of making. The significance that this work provides for us does not so much originate in the form of the art itself but with our experience of place. Art is a means by which we can give expression to the particularity of place.' Whose place is this, exactly? Is it 'terra incognita'? Are its native inhabitants invisible? What about the present-day descendants of the people who lived on the high moor two and a half millennia ago? Don't they count? Perhaps you don't think there are any. Recent DNA analysis of a Cheddar gorge prehistoric skeleton proved at least one positive direct lineal descendant is alive nearby today, and that was based on a blood sample survey of only a few of the local population. It is likely that some of the descendants of the people of Leskernick are still alive and well only a few thousand yards lower down the slopes of the moor. Many hundreds of thousands more of them have had to abandon more than their ancestral home on the high moor of course, since neolithic and Iron Age times. The history of Cornwall is that of systematic abandonment of the whole homeland. Many of the modern descendants of Liskernick's inhabitants are likely to be joined by plenty more of their countrymen and women in the years ahead, too, without a change in English attitudes to the identity of Cornwall and its cultural and political relationship with the rest of Britain. As the Bretons used to say in their graffiti during their struggles for recognition by France in the 1960s, 'Bretagne = colone'. Your article proves that Cornwall, too, has no more than colonial status, for all its legal possession by a Royal Duke and heir to the (primarily) English throne. What a pity that it may continue to suffer thus so as long as supposedly intellectual English artists persist in their long established mental habits of ignorance or arrogance - or both. Otherwise I found reading your article most worthwhile. Thank you. Adrian Watts

From: Amy Hale Well, Adrian sure did raise some interesting and provocative points there! Amy

From: Amy Hale Well, my interest piqued by Adrian's response, I went and read the article on art and re-presentation. It left me with a couple of questions. I was unclear about the nature of these installations. Are they really permanent? To what degree has the excavation altered the site? Whose permission did you gain for the installations, and to whom have they been displayed? I was also interested in the notion that 'the walk' is a British institution. Does it not have class connotations related to the issues of 'landscape'? Thanks, Amy

From: Henry Broughton Adrian, Thanks for your contribution to the discussion group. I think that you raise some interesting points particularly those that relate to the oppositions between a sense of being Cornish and a sense of being English. I think that the project was at first a little blasé about local senses of identity and the importance felt within Cornwall of being separate from the English State. However I think accusations of imperialism are a little strong. As a project we are acutely aware that we are from outside and that our presence on the hill and the subsequent excavations are disturbing to local senses of place. We have actively encouraged local visitors to visit the project while in season and have welcomed and taken on board the ideas from local archaeologists (both professional (Peter Herring) and amateur (Tony Blackman amongst others). As a project we feel that it is extremely important to pass on our ideas/interpretations to the local community. We are currently producing a small exhibition that will travel the local communities - Alternun, Camelford etc. This exhibition will encourage feed back with a space for those that come to see the exhibition to express their reactions to our work and also any strongly felt feelings about the history of the local area. The points you make about abandoned landscapes are very interesting and it is certainly something that will be in the exhibition - we are not in the business of 'aesthetisising' the landscape of Bodmin Moor according to romantic notions of 'wilderness' but want to express our fascination with the Bronze Age inhabitants of Bodmin Moor and the remains that they have left behind. I was wondering about some of the things you say..... 1. Does the fact that the project is from an English university invalidate any of the interpretations that it makes of Leskernick? 2. Is there any room for English intellectuals to explore notions of visual expression within the Cornish landscape/Kernow? or will anything that we do always be an example of imperialism? The art works on Leskernick were temporary installations. They were an exploration into alternative ways with which one can express ideas about the past and the relationship between the past and the present. You make a good point - why has the art neglected the political nature of producing the past? It is all rather apolitical? One of the outcomes of my involvement with the project is that I am now researching the role of local perceptions of the past in the context of Cornish national identity. I am looking (amongst other things) at the impact that mass tourism (supported by the English state) has had to the regions economy. I hope to eventually produce an exhibition which will provide a space for local people to express the history of Cornwall - as perceived by Cornish people. Would you like to come and meet us while we are on Leskernick this June? I can assure you that we are not as 'ignorant' or 'unthinking' as you think. Henry

From: Fay Stevens Dear Adrian & Henry, Adrian, thank you for your comments and contribution to the Leskernick forum, I did wonder if Cornish identity or even local identity would become a point of discussion and I am pleased that you have raised it as as it is an important component of our work there. I hope that Henry has cleared a few points for you and that you are as a consequence more aware of the sensitivity to our work at Leskernick. Henry, I am slightly concerned about your concerns regarding 'English intellectuals'. Whilst the project is undertaken by the archaeology and anthropology departments at University College London - an English University, those of us participating do not necessarily consider ourselves as English. In fact one member of the excavation team last year studies at UCL and is Cornish. Fay Stevens

From: Sam Fleming Fay Stevens wrote: “I am slightly concerned about your concerns regarding 'English intellectuals'. Whilst the project is undertaken by the archaeology and anthropology departments at University College London - an English University, those of us participating do not necessarily consider ourselves as English. In fact one member of the excavation team last year studies at UCL and is Cornish.” --And what of the people who built the site? Do you think they would have considered themselvs to be Cornish rather than English, or to even have had any concept of an "English intellectual"? There are so few these days who are willing to work to preserve sites like these that we should thank them for all their help and dedication, not accuse them of colonialistic tendencies. I myself am Scottish, does that mean I have any less right to fulfill Guardian duties at the Rollrights than if I had been born and bred in the area? If the people from UCL had not undertaken this project, who would? Of course there is always the argument for leaving such sites preserved in situ, undisturbed. Just my humble opinion, as always. Sam (who has heard people refer to Scotland as the "little island off the North coast of England")

From: Bornali Halder Henry Broughton wrote: "1.Does the fact that the project is from an English university invalidate any of the interpretations that it makes of Leskernick? 2.Is there any room for English intellectuals to explore notions of visual expression within the Cornish landscape/Kernow? or will anything that we do always be an example of imperialism?" Though these questions relate specifically to comments made in an earlier post [by Adrian Watts] about Leskernick, I think such questions concern the entire anthropological project. My research takes place among the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota (USA). I spent last year working with them to try and understand their concept of their particular region. I was told that their long historical ties to the region made their understanding of it a biological as well as a political, spiritual, emotional and cultural one [the region is embedded within their genes - they and the land in which they live are inseparable]. Though never clearly stated, the implication was that I as outsider am simply skimming the surface, and that I as anthropologist [and from England to boot!] join all other outsiders in the area [the Federal and State governments, non-Indian residents] in never being able to understand with any depth what the land means. According to the written, historical record, the Lakota came to their region in the mid 1700s. Before them were the Cheyenne, the Kiowa and so on. According to the Lakota mythological and oral record, the Lakota have been there since time began and have shared the region with other tribes. Other tribes have stories relating to this area. So do non-Indian residents who have lived there, say, four generations. The region resonates with different meanings: some of them older than others, some of them expressing similar feelings, some of them vastly different from each other. Whose interpretation best reflects the land? They all do, in their own ways. But then again, the question's pointless. We're all seeking to understand, and we all have a 'view' to express, depending on the nature of our relationship with the place. The only thing I am sure about is that I AM skimming the surface, and that I will never understand the region with as much depth as any group who has lived and is living there, past and present. Bonali

From: Tony Williams I am Welsh and German with a Jewish background with extractions of portugese! I am also a Europen born in England who holidays, when I can afford it, in Australia with my in-laws. I wonder where I should be practicing anthropology? Tony Williams

From: Fay Stevens Thanks Tony for your messgae: my mother's grandparents were Dutch, my fathers's mother Scottish, I was born in Singapore. Therefore in response to Adrian and Henry comments, what do they mean by 'English intellectual' ? Fay

From: Amy Hale I think this debate brings forth several interesting issues. In my own research with the Cornish I have an unusual status, as I am American but married to a Cornishman. Outsiders are very welcome here as long as they are sensitive to the issues. It's true that everyone who 'comes in' from the outside has to prove themselves, which considering the history, is understandable. "1. Does the fact that the project is from an English university invalidate >any of the interpretations that it makes of Leskernick?" Hmmm. I hope not, the Institute of Cornish Studies is a department of an English university. I think again, it depends on what the overriding perception of Cornwall and Cornish history is. Some researchers get up *my* nose more than others. I have heard several academics doing projects on Cornwall say to me 'Well, I came to Cornwall a couple of times on holiday when I was younger and it is such a nice place to visit, I though I'd do some work here'. Sounds to me like an excuse for a University funded jaunt to Cornwall!! Some of these people have no understanding of a native Cornish (historical, cultural, economic social) context or perspective. I am of the opinion that anyone's experience and interpretation of a landscape is 'authentic' and 'real'. I do, however, think it's important to try to understand how those perceptions may have been shaped or influenced. Have I already suggested looking at 'Cornwall: Cultural Construction of Place' (ed. Ella Westland, Patten Press, 1997). It's a good collection of essays that addresses these questions. Also, work by Bernard Deacon found in any of the Cornish Studies series or Cornwall Since the War is relevant. "2. Is there any room for English intellectuals to explore notions of visual expression within the Cornish landscape/Kernow? or will anything that we do always be an example of imperialism?" Of course there is! See above. Amy

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