A Cloak for Courage | FORM-ica
Arts
Literary Arts
Talk: 6-8pm: A Cloak for Courage: eco-poet duo kin’d & kin’d (Kay Syrad & Clare Whistler) will give an interactive talk about the conception and making of their Cloak for Courage. The cloaks will be on display as part of the event. Eco-poet duo kin’d & kin’d (Kay Syrad and Clare Whistler) have created a Cloak for Courage in the Anthropocene, an era defined by our human impact on the planet, which invites us to rethink courage as both a collective and ecological necessity. Syrad and Whistler’s interest in courage initially developed from their study of Jorie Graham, an American eco-poet whose collection To 2040 addresses an apocalyptic near-future. For Graham, courage has surpassed hope as a vital response to our world’s challenges. In her poem “Day,” she asks, “What do you think your strength is for—,” a question that resonates deeply with Syrad and Whistler’s work. Inspired by Graham, they began to explore courage not just as a human trait, but as something that connects us to the “many-more-than-human” world. The poets’ research began with three questions : What is the colour, form, or shape of courage? How can we conceive of courage with the many-more-than-human? What is the future of courage in the Anthropocene? It continued in the gathering of and writing about 47 natural objects that would be placed in pockets on the inside layer, and then in their collaboration with designer Larch Aldred, who made and embroidered the Cloak with lines of poetry and symbols. Thus the Cloak for Courage became both a ritual garment for protection and resilience, and a call to action at this time of ecological and societal crisis. First exhibited at RSA House, London, in the summer of 2024, the Cloak for Courage is now on tour across the UK. The book is available at https://www.elephantpress.co.uk/ Kay Syrad FRSA has published two novels and three volumes of poetry; her fourth volume is due out next year. She is a former Poetry Editor of the longstanding poetry journal Envoi. She also writes about art, with three Thames & Hudson monographs, and has collaborated with artists and musicians, for example with composer and saxophonist Trevor Watts on a libretto for a choral work. Her art-text work, work of the lightship men: 1000 tasks, was purchased by the National Maritime Museum. https://kaysyrad.co.uk/ Clare Whistler FRSA is a collaborative artist who makes work in the landscape with poetry, performance, music and visual art. Current collaborative projects include kin’d & kin’d with poet Kay Syrad as a composite eco poet; Waterweek & Watercycle with visual artist Charlotte Still; Turner & Whistler with visual artist Nicola Turner; and Elephant Press for collaborative books with Raphael Whittle. https://www.clarewhistler.co.uk/
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