KlangHaus journey to CoP26 Glasgow

I have had a wonderful experience of being listened to. In one day the chairman of the Plantation Gardens contacted me to ask if it would be useful for the gardeners to take into account my possible show of musicians in trees to prune undergrowth over the winter. Norwich City Council got in touch to request I meet with their head of Strategy and Transformation to chat through my idea of city centre vertical farms finding a home in the ailing shopping centres and the plant science labs, John Innes contacted me saying I could talk with their vertical farm experts. It’s a privilege to be heard and the energy it’s given me to keep asking questions and seeing new ways forward is priceless. Thank you to things that keep us moving forward.

To keep track of my questions and visits to folks, I’ll make some notes. I got a reply from Norwich City Council re my question of could Castle Mall and Chapelfield Intu Shopping centre be converted to vertical farms. They said it was interesting and they would consider it for their 2040 vision. I’m speaking to a friend this morning who works at the John Innes Centre ( local Plant Science Lab that has a world reputation), to find a way in to have conversations with John Innes folks who might be researching and developing vertical farms. I’d like to talk to someone from Chapelfield Intu, the company is in administration, but would be worth a dig. I want to record these conversations, but I’m feeling that at least at the moment, I’d like to get people’s trust, then return with a microphone… although, some conversations won’t be repeatable, due to people’s availability.
Last night I popped to see Tully, a tree surgeon I know, to talk about putting musicians into trees. I’d like to orchestrate socially distanced gigs using the trees in the Plantation Gardens. Is it viable to strap musicians into trees and have them look like they have lived there for a while, that they are always in that tree? The musician would research the tree, write about the tree, build a friendship with the tree, write songs as if the tree were singing or creating the noise. The musician connects with the tree, learns about arboriculture, shares their learning and experience through online chats, blogging, a short film, live story telling. Over the weeks, you can drop into the plantation garden for a talk/story by one of the musicians, they share their process.

It culminates in a gig, a promenade show, musicians in the trees, low lights, sounds, individual songs and songs all together. A soundscape to move people, connect to the space, the here and now.
My guerrilla gardening has finally bloomed. My street has one tree and a tiny patch of earth around that tree. It’s a start….

This is cheeky email day.. Throwing off-the-wall ideas into the ether. I hope I didn’t sound ridiculous and perhaps I said too much all in the first interaction. Slowly, slowly a bit at a time might have been better.
First request : an arboreal music idea. Could musicians respond to a tree in the plantation gardens in Norwich, write about it, research it, bond with it, make songs. Could those musicians then collaborate with the planation garden staff and the resident or go-to arborealists to get the musicians performing their work in the tree itself? Up high, socially distanced from the audience? The audience can walk along paths or sit on the grass and listen to the music with a finale of all musicians playing together. The acoustics in this extraordinary sunken garden have clarity and reach throughout.

Second cheeky email to Agri-TechEast, could Norwich’s failing shopping centres be turned into vertical farms? Could the citizens of Norwich connect with their food? Watch it grow, help, be part of it?

In my research to understand more about climate issues for our next KlangHaus ventures, I came across the idea of vertical farms. Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers inside a building in a controlled environment. Our shopping centres in my home city of Norwich, Castle Mall and Chapelfield Intu are not thriving, MY QUESTION IS, could they become vertical farms? Could we as citizens become connected to the food we eat through proximity to seeing it grow, maybe we could help grow the food we eat? One problem with vertical farming is proximity to market. Another problem is a good source of labour. I’m sure you could sit with a piece of paper and write a whole stack of positives for having an innovative city farm. Of course there are the whole plethora of reasons why not.

I have spoken to folks about this idea of having city centre vertical farms, where we the citizens can help grow food for ourselves, or at least connect with it, walk amongst it, watch it grow, learn about it. Get the schools in, the allotment champions, have socials, have gigs and art installations. Their eyes light up.

With failing harvests, impoverished soils why use swathes of landscape to grow our food? If the land wasn’t used for farming, what would it look like? What do you see?

Then, second push, turn our decimated north city concrete shopping precinct into an Eden project for the east… again, having farming as well as tropical plants, socials, gigs, art, dance, cross generational events, celebrations of food seasons, group meals. If it had the investment to start, at least a quarter of the country would come and visit it.

What are the steps to realising such ventures, would they work? Do people want it? What are the blocks?

I’m going to make a radio documentary following this line of enquiry. I want to use sound, play with sound and conjure up a future I’d like to be part of.