On Our Doorsteps - Norwich
Sweet Briar Marshes lies between the Marlpit and Hellesdon estates in Norwich and combines a rich tapestry of woodland, grassland, marsh and scrub. Several years ago, members of the local community approached the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and asked them to buy the land, saving it from development. In May 2024, the site officially opened as a new NWT Nature Reserve. In collaboration with Norfolk Wildlife Trust and Norfolk & Norwich Festival, We Live Here invited local and visiting audiences to explore this wilderness in the heart of the city. Bristol-based writer Zakiya Mackenzie and Finnish graphic novelist Tiitu Takalo unearthed the stories of those who love Sweet Briar Marshes in a series of newly commissioned artworks located on large billboards around the reserve.
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Accessibility
With the official opening of the nature reserve to the public, Norfolk Wildlife Trust aimed to make the space accessible to all. On Our Doorsteps asked questions about who accesses green spaces and what barriers exist that prevent some people from enjoying the huge benefits of engaging with nature. We worked closely with Inclusive Norwich, React Accessibility Ltd. and Sound Yard making use of innovative new technologies to make an installation that was fully accessible to people with visual impairment.
Zakiya Mackenzie
Zakiya Mackenzie ran a series of walks, talks and workshops with a group of local people including the Norfolk Queer Birders group. Together they reflected on their shared and individual feelings about local landscapes. They wrote poems and prose that reflected the rich sense of belonging and connection that nature can offer. Zakiya distilled their shared reflection into a poem, sections of which were presented on billboards across Sweet Briar Marshes.
Zakiya is a writer and academic based in Bristol, UK. She recently finished a PhD on the history of Black British newsprint. In 2019, Zakiya was writer-in-residence for Forestry England and in 2021, she was artist-in-residence at Studio Voltaire, London. She regularly leads nature, art and writing workshops, including one on Caribbean storytelling for children.​
Tiitu Takalo
Tiitu Takalo is a multi-award-winning feminist Graphic Novelist from Tampere, Finland. Her work connects themes including personal & social history, mental health, community and place. She has published eight graphic novels, which have been translated from Finnish into other languages including English, French, Hungarian, Polish, Spanish and Swedish.
For On Our Doorsteps, Tiitu met with local people who each have a special connection to Sweet Briar Marshes: Richard Woodhouse, Kumbazu Murangi, and, from Inclusive Norwich, Rachael Andrews and Dave Shraga. They spent time on the marshes, walking and talking about what it meant to them. Their conversations and observations provided the content for graphic artworks presented on three billboards across the site.​​​
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Tiitu Takalo & Tim Harrison in conversation:
https://nnfestival.org.uk/on-our-doorsteps-tiitu-tikalo-tim-harrison/
Partners
