Lost Letters - call for participation
Get involved in a participatory art project with Middle Tweed artists in residence Robbie Coleman and Jo Hodges.
Since April this year, artists Robbie Coleman and Jo Hodges have been exploring the pathways around the River Tweed between Innerleithen and Kelso, as part of their ongoing artist residency with Connecting Threads, the cultural strand of Destination Tweed.
Inspired by the chance discovery of an empty envelope on a footpath by the Tweed, the duo have initiated the ‘Lost Letters’ project. Now, they’re asking for local writers and members of the public to get involved.
On one of their walks, the pair found an intriguing object: an old envelope addressed simply ‘Babe’. They picked it up, only to discover that it was empty. This easily overlooked little mystery prompted a host of questions: why was it left just there by the edge of the River Tweed? What did the envelope contain? Who wrote it? And of course, who is ‘Babe’?
The artists are now inviting local people to contribute to the project, which will culminate in ‘Babe’, an exhibition of lost letters in September.
The letters can be long or short, to anybody or anything, factual or fantastical, funny or heartrendingly tragic, handwritten or typed. There are no rules but one: every letter must be addressed to ‘Babe’.
At the exhibition, Coleman and Hodges hope people will enjoy the illicit thrill of opening a series of envelopes and reading the personal messages.
How to get involved
‘Babe’, the exhibition of the lost letters will be held near Galashiels in early September.
You can contribute as many times as you wish. Please address your contributions to ‘Babe’ and send by 6th September:
via email to kerry@sup.org.uk (mailto:kerry@sup.org.uk)
or via post to: Connecting Threads, Studio 1, Lindean Mill, Galashiels, TD1 3PE
Depending on the quantity and nature of submissions, we cannot guarantee that your contribution will be included in the exhibition. Please contact kerry@sup.org.uk if you have any questions.
Artist Robbie Coleman and Jo Hodges say:
“From April to October this year we’re exploring the pathways of the middle section of the River Tweed. Our research area is ‘walking' - how we encounter the world on foot. We are excited to be given this opportunity to look deeply into something most of us take for granted and are keen to share and shape our investigations with the people that we meet on the way.
On one of our recent walks by the river found an intriguing object – an old, weathered envelope. It was empty, with one word written in faded blue biro on the front: ‘Babe’. The envelope fascinated us. What message was in it, we wondered: a marriage proposal, a goodbye, tragic news or a love letter? And what was so special about that path by the river?”