CYBasildon Park: Wayfaring
The grounds of Basildon Park, a Palladian country house in Lower Basildon near Reading, was the setting for this episode of Wayfaring, a free outdoor installation and performance resolution created over a period of two weeks by AndNow.
Co-commissioned by the Corn Exchange Newbury, Wayfaring was an artistic journey of exploration, inspired by the landscape and ancient route of the Icknield Way, a pathway running from north Norfolk to the Dorset coast. Basildon Park, where the North Wessex Downs meets the Chilterns, sits on the edge of that route.
Usually visitors pay to enter The National Trust property and parklands – but on 18, 19 and 20 July they could visit for free. Once in the park, they journeyed through – and contributed to – an artwork crafted from local and found materials by Mandy, Ben, their team and a group of volunteers. Local schoolchildren also visited and contributed to the installation and the making of Wayfaring. Live music and performance transformed the installation in a gentle celebration, a resolution to the two weeks creating process. The audience played an active part in Wayfaring – walking, looking, listening, singing, dancing and writing.