Phuplec is a new art project in Cambridge, inspired by the history of allotments and green spaces of Petersfield and Romsey.
The PDF below offers free activity sheets for you to do from home.
Nature is all around us, woven into the city as much as the countryside, into our homes as much as outdoors. It is there for all of us to connect with. These activities explore what we can learn from nature, how we can attend to it and ultimately how we might support it, as the source of life on earth.
Plants are essential to human life. They have survived on earth for 359 million years. Petersfield and Romsey have a long history of growing and supporting plant life. Originally fields, the streets either side of Mill Road were sold off after enclosure and in 1927 became allotments. These allotments were tended to a near professional level by shift workers at the nearby concrete and iron factories. While many of these allotments were developed into housing as the local population grew, several still exist and green space remains important to local residents today. Green space does not just mean the commons, cemetery, and recreation grounds but the hedgehog routes and gardens that create grow spaces across the neighbourhood – the plants that grow through the cracks, in window boxes and up walls and fences. Gardens in Britain cover an estimated 10 million acres – this is more than all our nature reserves put together. A garden may be big or small, a simple pot on a window ledge, and on its own may not seem much, but together they are an extraordinary resource for supporting wildlife.
Phuplec offers a number of activities to do from home including exercises for stretching and relaxation to connect with the soil, appreciating the wildlife you live with, cooking and sharing recipes, growing veg from scraps, and connecting with plants.
Phuplec is an artwork by Emma Smith who is artist in residence for Cromwell Road. Emma’s work has been commissioned for the art programme Resonance-Cambridge as part of the programme of new homes being built by Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP).
For more information please visit: