Residents Living With Damp in Cornwall - Personal Stories

I have what often appears to people as an unusual mix of careers - artist and plumber. But this pairing frequently presents ways to interweave both pathways of my skills and knowledge. I’m very glad to say I’ve been awarded an Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant to begin new research and artwork focusing on damp. Living with it, navigating it, and looking at how it finds its way in to our homes and workplaces. We live in a humid environment, especially in Cornwall, and much of our housing stock is ill equipped to cope with this. Whether this be poor design, the use of lower quality materials and builds, or years of maintenance and renovation work that didn't quite understand the existing building fabric and the need for buildings to breathe (I'm talking to you concrete render!). As well as being detrimental to our health and our emotional wellbeing, damp can be overwhelming to deal with, costly, and deeply shaming. I know this well from living, often precariously, in a variety of situations affected by damp. From terraced basements and seaside winter-lets, to cob cottages and concrete tower blocks, damp has lurked and lingered in most of the situations I have called home. I'm excited that for this new project I’m able to combine my plumbing, heating and retrofit knowledge and my art practice, coaching, and facilitation expertise to find out more more about how damp affects us, and what the barriers are to resolving damp issues. The ACE funded period will culminate with an exhibition at Auction House, Redruth, and a series of film screenings at University of Reading, Exeter Phoenix, and MIRROR at Arts University Plymouth. As part of this project I am hosting three public art and conversation workshops this Autumn: - ALMA Artspace, Newquay on Saturday 26th September, 2-4pm | book here: https://lnkd.in/eXBd2CSv - Musuem of Cornish Life, Helston on Thursday 22nd October 11-1 | book here: https://lnkd.in/erUcGFJK - Kresen Kernow, Redruth on Thursday 5th November 11-1 | book here: https://lnkd.in/eVtRHs2p If you have a personal story about living with damp that you'd like to contribute to my research I'd love to hear from you, please do get in touch. #damp #kernowlife #moisture #retrofit #housing