Common Ground explores relationships to nature through the culture of commons and land stewardship, and the lens of folklore and natural systems, asking: how do we radicalise and democratise access to the English Countryside?

The artwork amplifies the collective wisdom and community knowledge of local land stewards from commoners, ecologists and conservation volunteers, to crafts people, rangers and ramblers. It seeks common ground through the weaving of different narratives, creating a living dialogue.

The artwork’s ability to change form was honoured after the exhibition when the materials were returned to the land, encouraging biodiversity and interspecies participation. The hay bales became pony feed, the heather bales used for river restoration, burnt hazel turned into biochar, and marl clay bricks into insect lodgings.