Rob St John – Emergent Landscapes
It has been announced today that the Forest of Bowland National Landscape is going to feature as a major hub in a £2M ground-breaking national art project, Nature Calling, which is funded by Arts Council England, the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) and National Landscapes in England.
Working with writer, rapper and performer OneDa, and artist Rob St John, the National Landscape team will creatively engage with young people from Burnley and Nelson to collaborate, explore, and connect with nature.
Nature Calling is a first for National Landscapes because of its size, scope and the level of investment. It aims to inspire communities across England to connect with National Landscapes, increasing their access to nature, improving their wellbeing and inspiring a sense of belonging in these special places.
Nature Calling will bring together the 34 National Landscapes in England, local arts organisations and community groups from within a 30-minute journey time of their nearby National Landscape. They will work together to co-create artworks inspired by these iconic places and the results will then be shared with the public in a Season of Art from May-October 2025. It is expected that 70,000 people will take part nationally.
Nature Calling is a partnership project between the National Landscapes Association, Activate Performing Arts, Poetry School and 6 National Landscapes that will operate as key hubs of activity. The hubs are Chilterns National Landscape; Dorset National Landscape; Forest of Bowland National Landscape; Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape; Mendip Hills National Landscape and Surrey Hills National Landscape. They will work with communities in Luton; Yeovil; former mill towns in East Lancashire; East and West Lindsey; Weston-Super-Mare and Croydon respectively. Find out more and get involved here.
An artist who refuses to be boxed in, OneDa’s music speaks for itself. Always beginning with her own intrepid demeanour and dexterous wordplay, her tracks incorporate elements from the hip-hop and drum and bass scenes of her home city of Manchester before adding an eclectic mix of afro-trap and tinges of afrobeats that lean into her Nigerian heritage. Oneda’s expertise transcends mere lyrical skill; it involves effortlessly merging her chicaning poetic verses with the ever-changing rhythm of shifting beats. Her boundless linguistic talent distinguishes her as a unique force of nature and a master craftswoman. OneDa is a multihyphenate who has long focused on empowering others. Now, she is speeding off the starting grid on her own with her self-produced debut album, ‘Formula OneDa’, due out in the autumn of 2024 on Heavenly Recordings.
Rob St John is an artist and writer based in Lancashire. His practice is focused on the blurrings of nature and culture in contemporary landscapes. He works across sound, moving image, text and installation. His work has been shown and heard at Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, The Barbican, The British Museum and many others.
Are You Lost? will be a series of film, sound and textile installations across Bowland which highlight the diverse voices and perspectives of the communities that live around the area. A festival series of temporary installations will be created across the National Landscape, both in accessible public spaces and in more remote, largely-unused spaces in 2025.