We were commissioned by the Burton Art Gallery in Bideford to create a piece for their new exhibition ‘Seeds of Hope.’ Alongside other ‘Burton Associates’ Paul Lewin and Taz Pollard, we were asked to respond to the Burton’s collection with a sense of hope, growth and optimism.
We got interested in the museum collection of Tea Caddies. In the 18th Century, tea was considered so exclusive that it was locked up in highly ornate boxes. For as long as we can remember tea has been the nation’s favourite drink and today people across the UK consume 100,000 cups of tea every day – the value of it, in a wide understanding of the word has changed. During lockdown many things spiked in ‘value’ – including toilet rolls, haircuts and public displays of clapping. So we set ourselves the task of looking in ridiculous detail at how pandemics over time have changed what we buy and how we behave.
Creative Team
- Writer and Performer: Paschale Straiton
- Video: Joel Herron
