All day, 28th and 29th June
We will have a large marquee with a good stock of art supplies so if you want to add your own thoughts or art to the activities please come along and draw, paint, perform, meditate, cast a spell or say a prayer for the poor old bones of Canvey.
Sleeping with the Dead
At 12:30 -13:00 and 16:30 - 17:00 on 28th and 29th June, we will be tuning into over a hundred heartbeats donated by the people of Canvey and beyond, energising the bedlam database over Stuart Bowditch’s subterranean recordings from Bedlam Mass Grave and Willow Cemetery. Stuart Bowditch is an Essex-based artist and sound recordist whose work explores the sonic landscapes of the overlooked and peripheral places.
Throughout both days, Sylak Ravenspine invites you to create shiny mud balls called Hikaru Dorodango. Dive into the past and get your hands dirty with the rich, layered soil of Essex—featuring a special bucketful from Wallasea Island, where earth from the Bedlam Cemetery was relocated. Sylak is an eco-ink maker and designer based in Essex. He gathers virtually all his materials by hand across the post-industrial landscapes of South Essex.
Talks and Workshops - Saturday, 28th June
11:00–12:30: How Did the Poor Old Bones of Canvey Arrive on the Island?
With John & Nicola Cribbs (T. Cribbs and Sons), Robert Hartle archaeologist, and Graham Harwood T. Cribbs and Sons was established in 1881 and has served the diversity of east end families and their diaspora ever since. John Cribbs and Graham Cribbs have been working to create a funerary museum and were instrumental in forming TCS Exhumations, with Nichola who was responsible for day-to-day operations in the exhumation.
Robert Hartle’s research focuses on the archaeology and history of bodysnatching in London, c. 1700–1832. He was a key archaeologist on The New Churchyard (Bedlam Cemetery) project.
14:00–16:30: Workshop: Bedlam, AI, Grief and Loss – by Syd Moore
This workshop explores how artificial intelligence encounters grief and loss, contrasted with John Tickhill, a rent collector in 1395, describing a walk into Bishopswood which at that time was a wooded area near the old Bethlehem Asylum. Today, that forest is gone, buried beneath roads and concrete—but the emotion survives. Syd Moore is a British author, former television presenter, and activist best known for her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries series, blending supernatural themes with historical intrigue and feminist narratives.
Talks and Workshops - Sunday, 29th June
11:00–15:00: Workshop with Lora Aziz
A walk and talk focusing on specific plants, weaving in Nicholas Culpeper’s radical democratisation of medical knowledge (associated with the grave), women herbalists in 17th-century London, and contemporary Palestinian plant medicine being used today. Lora Aziz is a British-Egyptian interdisciplinary artist, author, and wildcrafter based in Essex, known for her work in visual anthropology, herbalism, and experimental calligraphy.
Sunday 11:00–12:30: Roundtable – What is the Place of Art and Cultural Practice Within Death and Remembrance?
With Tom King, Andrea Cunningham (Metal), Graham Harwood (YoHa, Goldsmiths) HS2 has requested the excavation of over 30,000 bodies from its intended path—just one of many infrastructure projects that involve large-scale disinterment and reburial. How can socially engaged art or cultural practice operate in this space? What role can artists play in archaeology—or when life is ending? Tom King is the author of Thames Estuary Trail: A Walk Round the End of the World and The Long Path Through the Woods, documenting a 1,500-mile walk through England’s ancient forests. Andrea Cunningham is Director of Metal Southend, a national arts organisation, and was previously Head of Learning & Skills at the V&A Museum of Childhood. Graham Harwood is co-founder of YoHa and Reader in Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London.
14:00–16:30: Workshop – Canvey: A Space of Dreams With Jill Westwood & Lesley Morris
You are invited to join a Social Dream Matrix for Sleeping with the Dead. Come and re-remember the forgotten souls of Bethlehem Cemetery—collapsed bones beneath the city’s muddy veil. Under the skin of the living, shrouds of memory unfold. Let the spirit of Dr. Feelgood guide us in awakening the echoes of the past, releasing the soul of a place too often overlooked.
Social Dreaming Matrix is a process where people participate in one another’s dreams—whether night dreams or associations from active imagination. This session explores how shared social meaning can emerge through art-making and group discussion. Participants are encouraged to observe and reflect on their dreams in the lead-up to the event. Lesley and Jill are artists, art psychotherapists, and educators whose 15-year collaboration—rooted in life along the Thames—draws on new materialist thought. They use art as enquiry to explore materiality, space-time entanglements, and the call of the wild within the cosmic unknown.
17:00 18:00 Close