As part of its Phase II programme, Transported previously commissioned The Cabinet of Curiosity to explore Lincolnshire’s cultural heritage through paper craft as part of the Open Book Strand.

The Storyville series was created by participants guided by The Cabinet of Curiosity through a number of workshops which took place in the Boston, Kirton and Donington libraries. The art reinterprets stories relating to Lincolnshire’s cultural heritage through the medium of paper craft techniques using recycled books and maps provided by the libraries. These site specific installations share a common theme of time and travel that relates to Lincolnshire’s contribution within navigational innovation.

(Image courtesy of Electric Egg)

The Boston Library installation is called ‘The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire, and showcases a miniature origami paper landscape inspired by the imagery from Jean Ingelow’s poetry, the Pilgrim Fathers, and local architectural icons.  Jean Ingelow was a 19th century female poet from Boston, a celebrated contemporary of the Victorian poet Tennyson and best known for her epic poem ‘The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire’. Boston’s trade links to Europe in the 17th century fostered progressive protestant religious thinking in the region such as Calvinism. During the early 1600s many Boston radicals left England for the Netherlands, who then left the ‘old world’ of Europe for the ‘new world’ of America as the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower. St. Botolph’s Church tower, known affectionately as the ‘Boston Stump’, is a striking architectural landmark which boasts one of tallest medieval church towers in England.

The small scale installation is a pop-up paper landscape of Boston recalling the Shakespearean imagery of Jean Ingelow’s poetry. All objects are made from recycled maps distinct to the locality that combine origami architecture techniques commonly found in pop-up books.

(Image courtesy of The Cabinet of Curiosity)

The ‘Clockwork Kirton’ installation at Kirton showcases a working paper clock inspired by the craft tradition of the Bothamleys at Kirton.  The Bothamley family were a dynasty of clock makers, spanning four generations in Lincolnshire who were established in Kirton during the 18th century. The Bothamleys specialised in conventional ‘longcase’ wall clocks, commonly known as ‘Norfolk’ clocks displaying distinctive craftsmanship with highly elaborate faces such as moon dials. The window installation displays elements of a paper clock such as coggs, decorative face, and pendulum made from recycled book pages combining origami and quilling techniques.

The Donington Library installation, ‘Ode to Trim: Being the True Story of a Brave Seafaring Cat’ showcases a mobile of papercut silhouettes inspired by the story of Flint the cat, faithful companion of Captain Flinders, the 19th century exlporer from Donington. Flinders was a distinguished English navigator and cartographer, who was the first to circumnavigate Australia and identify it as a continent.

The installation will take the form of a mobile made from recycled book pages combining cut paper and silhoutte techniques that will tell the story of Flint the cat. The piece aims to be a companion piece to the stained glass window in the local church dedicated to Mathew Flinders.

(Image courtesy of Electric Egg)

The installations will be available to view from Friday 26 September 2014. The Cabinet of Curiosity have also documented the project via Pinterest, and you can take a look here:

Follow Cabinet of Curiosity’s board Transported Open Book: Storyville on Pinterest.

Library Opening Times:

Kirton Library

Boston Library

Donington Library