Description

HomeLAND is a site-specific art installation of 100+ swallows with engraved tin beaks: symbols of migration, memory and belonging. Installed in summer 2025 beneath a Hornbeam tree at Southcombe Barn, Devon, it evokes a forest of stillness for a species constantly migrating.

The birds will be co-created through workshops for local schoolchildren and refugees with Beyond Borders, plus two family drop-in sessions in collaboration with the National Garden Scheme. Led by myself and local ceramicist Kate Lyons-Miller, these clay and tin workshops foster kinaesthetic empathy: adults and children learning from one another through shared movement and making.

Formed from local Dartmoor clay and Ashburton tin, HomeLAND will give rise to conversations about the deeply entrenched heritage of our land, and wider contemporary issues of migration, refuge and refugees. It will offer reflections on the past, present and future of “Home” as a continuum.

By donating £50, you are supporting the cost of local materials, time for the artists to deliver the workshops, material with which to promote the project locally, and the firing of the ceramic birds before installation.

In return you’ll receive one of the unique bird sculptures; tangible legacy of this socially engaged art project. This work will be delivered to you in mid to late-July, following the installation’s closure. Shipping is added at checkout, along with a keepsake certificate of authenticity.