Harwich is a town defined by travel, helping those who choose to journey to elsewhere. But what of the town itself, what is the story of the people that stay?
Place Services appointed creative duo Cora Glaser and David Ball of ‘Glassball’ to collaborate with local communities in Harwich to create artworks and uncover the unique story of the town. The programme was part of the Seaconomics project designed to help develop coastal economies within the fourteen European partner organisations.
Glassball is an arts collective working on physical interventions in public spaces and digital technology. The main emphasis of their work is to collaborate with people and places, engaging in a site responsive practice, and along the way exploring new relationships with the everyday.
The project aimed to engage residents of Harwich and visitors by using experience and memory within the context of a journey. Glassball created a variety of visual and audio material that informed artworks. The work presents a series of journeys through carefully siting artworks around the town, alongside digital content on the mobile App. During this project they worked with Joel Stickley, writer and Poet Laureate for Lincolnshire.
Glassball took over an empty shop within the town, setting this up as their base for people to drop-in, share their memories and find out more about the project. A series of events took place throughout the programme and concluded in ‘Guiding Lights’ a unique event that saw the reanimation the two lighthouses on either side of Harwich Green.
Journeyer Phone App
The Journeyer Phone App enables you to voyage to the four corners of Harwich, navigating you to public artworks by Glassball, local sites of historical interest, local amenities and conveniences to make your journey complete.
The Seaconomics Programme is part of an INTERREG IVA 2 Mers Seas Zeeën Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-13.
The INTERREG IVA 2 Mers Seas Zeeën Programme promotes crossborder cooperation between the coastal regions of 4 Member States: France (Nord-Pas de Calais), England (SW, SE, E), Belgium (Flanders) and The Netherlands (South coastal area).
The Seaconomics project’s aim is to make the 2 Seas coastal tourism offer more dynamic and to find innovative solutions to the common problem of a changing environment and a decline in the traditional touristic industry that no longer meets current visitor demand.