This programme of residencies was presented by Situations as part of the Arts & Ecology programme at the RSA (The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) in association with the Gulbenkian Foundation.

Arts & Ecology is a programme supporting the work of the arts in examining and addressing environmental concerns in an international arena.

Arts & Ecology explores the current practice of artists, writers, architects and film-makers through a series of conferences, publications and projects that looks at local and global projects that attempt to communicate, challenge and sometimes propose solutions to pollution, waste and loss of natural habitats. The issues at stake – from the broad one climate change to the resultant problems of desertification, waste and dwindling biodiversities will be examined through artists’ practices, and through interdisciplinary dialogue with scientists, industrialists, government and environmental groups. For further information visit www.artsandecology.org/

Situations facilitated three residencies in Bristol between 2006 and 2007 with artists Ivan & Heather Morsion, Grace Ndiritu and writer Kate Thompson. Please see below for biographies, links and more information on their individual residencies.

Heather and Ivan Morison were born in 1973, Desborough, Northamptonshire, and 1974, Nottingham respectively. 

Heather and Ivan Morison live in the west of Wales where they are establishing an arboretum. Their work blends factual recall with fiction, merging information into a narrative that builds on the mythology of their own lives and the lives of people they encounter.

Heather and Ivan represented Wales at the 52nd Venice Biennale. Heather also participated in the RSA event Is Art Sinking Venice? On 9th June. Click here to find out more.

Whilst undertaking their residency Ivan & Heather chose ten organisations to meet with, these include the BBC Natural History Unit, BRERC, Bristol City Council Arboreal Officer, Bristol Friends of the Earth, Centre for Environment & Planning UWE, Centre for Transport & Society UWE, Green Party (Bristol Section), SITA, Bristol Green Peace and the S.E.R.A. The artists were primarily interested in meeting with these organisations for their large-scale ambition and perseverance in an area that has only recently become so topical. Ivan and Heather Morison were resident in Bristol during September 2007.

Grace Ndiritu was born in 1976 and lives and works in London. She studied at Winchester School of Art, London and De Ateliers, Amsterdam. She recently completed a studio residency at Delfina Studios, London (2004-2006).

Recent exhibitions include Still life and Responsible Tourism, Chishenhale Gallery (2007); Untitled Resistance, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea (2006) Grace Ndiritu, Nuova Icona in conjunction with Ikon Gallery, 51st Venice Biennale, Italy (2005); The Nightingale, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2005); Time, Delfina Studios (2005); Perspective, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast (winner of the Perspective Prize 2004); and Mostyn Open, Oriel Mostyn Gallery (2004)

Ndiritu began her engagement with the Arts and Ecology programme through an invitation in 2006 to attend 'Tipping Point', a dialogue between climate science and the arts in Oxford, and the RSA Conference ‘No Way Back’. This led to desk-based research in London on the media representation of natural disasters. Ndiritu's residency at the BBC in Bristol followed in spring 2007, with research visits to the Video and Sound Archives of the Natural History Unit.

Following this research there are no immediate plans for the development of a specific work with Situations and the RSA, but the artist is proceeding with her own production of a new video based on the themes found during this time. Our thanks to Alan Baker, Head of Information and Archive and the Staff of the Archive at the Natural History Unit for their considerable support and enthusiasm for Grace's visits. 

Kate Thompson is the first author to win the Irish Children's Book of the Year Bisto Award four times: for The Beguilers (2002), The Alchemist's Apprentice (2003), Annan Water (2005) and The New Policeman (2006). She also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Children's Whitbread Book Award and the Irish Book Awards Children's Book of the Year for The New Policeman.

As well as being a born storyteller and poet, Kate has trained racehorses, travelled extensively in India and, over the last few years, developed a passion for playing the fiddle, completing an MA in Traditional Irish Music Performance. She lives on the west coast of Ireland, where she finds inspiration for the Irish magic, music and landscape in The New Policeman and The Last of the High Kings. She has spent the last 6 months in Australia, bush walking, riding and exploring the central desert region. For further information about Kate and her work go to www.katethompson.info

Kate Thompson was resident in Bristol for three months from May to July 2007.

“In short, I spent the entire time in Bristol immersed in research. The opportunity for a creative writer to spend time on research without a clear project proposal is unusual, and very much to be welcomed. The creative process is not the same as the academic one. Sometimes an existing idea requires research but, as often as not, general study of a subject gives rise, over time, to new ideas and imaginative directions.”

"Currenty I am settling back in to my life here in Ireland, and I have a lot of work to catch up on before I can turn my mind to whatever might come out of the Bristol residence. This too is a necessary part of the creative process – one might call it digestion or even gestation – but I hope that before too long some ideas will begin to bubble up for some kind of new work.” Kate Thompson, August 2007

To take a closer look at some of the issues Kate investigated whilst resident in Bristol please download the following PDF.

What you can do resource