Dragon Hall, Norwich/ National Centre for Writing - Story Makers project
2025/2026
“An archive is the leaves that drop from the trees in Autumn, that we walk over, making a carpet on the pavement as we skip to school, one sticking to the bottom of my shoe. I find it there later.
An archive is a whisper at the back of the room, sometimes it’s a shout.
An archive is a paint spot on my dress that won’t budge, telling the tale of a when, a where, a something that is there, and will always be there, even when it’s been washed out next week.”
Combining historical research and creative practice, the Story Makers project supported a careful and explorative delve into the archives of Dragon Hall, Norwich, and it’s surrounding area.
Who lived at Dragon Hall?
What have these old walls witnessed?
Whose story hasn’t yet been told?
I worked with written and oral archives, as well as accounts and observations of objects from childhood, to discover the untold stories of children and childhood in the inter-war period in the King Street yards and courts of old Norwich.
For me, there is little distinction between art making and research - it is all part of the same creative thinking and learning process - and both creative writing and textile making came to the fore in this site-specific installation inside Dragon Hall.