.

Now this looks rather rewarding, a quick taste of something called The Black Mary Projectthat will emerge and evolve next year over in London’s Kings Cross area,…

“The Black Mary Project, led by Artistic Director Gaylene Gould, is an initiative dedicated to rejuvenating public healing spaces and rediscovering untold histories. The project, which aims to unite Black women and non-binary artists via a significant public realm project in the form of a sculpture garden, will launch in the Summer of 2024, located only 500 metres from King’s Cross in London. Shedding light on overlooked narratives and amplifying muted voices, the public initiative delves into the untold legend of Mary Woollaston, a 17th Century Black healer who strived to help and interact with her community at a well based in the borough of Camden.

Set to launch in June 2024, The Mary Woollaston Healing Garden will come to life in Calthorpe Community Garden, with designs by award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant in collaboration with artist Marcia Bennett Male. Traces of Mary’s existence emerge in Thomas Cromwell’s 19th Century book History and Description of the Parish of Clerkenwell, where she is mentioned when describing an area known as Black Mary’s Hole, which is believed to be named after her.

Supported by the Mayor’s Special Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm fund, the local community shortlisted the designer and artist to craft a poignant memorial healing garden and artwork dedicated to the captivating historical tale of Mary Woollaston. Artists, historians, and the community will come together to invoke Mary’s memory, weaving together speculative fiction, historic fact, and contemporary stories to explore a legacy of healing that transcends time.

The project will honour the historic healing roots of the Calthorpe Community Garden, drawing inspiration from the area’s past identity as a spa destination where people once gathered to find sanctuary and respite in public and communal spaces. Forty years old, Calthorpe is a community-led centre in the heart of bustling Kings Cross which supports the physical and emotional wellbeing of a diverse group of people who live, work or study in Camden and surrounding areas. The project intends to bridge the gap between the city’s heritage and its current and ongoing need for healing and support.

A unique collaboration between artists and community, The Black Mary Project embodies the spirit of collective imagination and mythmaking, as it endeavours to unravel the enigma surrounding Mary’s existence — a mystery that underscores the unfortunate reality of overlooked lives, especially those of people of colour throughout Western history. At its core, the project seeks to create an accessible space for healing, both for the individual and the collective, and recognises the urgent need for such public spaces, especially in the wake of the pandemic’s toll on lives and communities.

The project, led by Artistic Director Gaylene Gould, produced by Zaynab Bunsie and guided by the Calthorpe Mythmakers group is influenced by the international communities of Calthorpe, encompassing individuals from Afghanistan, Latin-America, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, and beyond.

About Gaylene Gould

Gaylene Gould is a multidisciplinary artist who creates projects out of a desire for a more compassionately connected world. She explores a deeper healing relationship with herself and the cultural world through writing, performance, visual making and broadcasting projects. Gaylene is also a culture broadcaster and currently hosts the Serpentine podcast. Her participatory live-art experiences draw on collaboration, visual art, performance, conversation, play and ritual to create imaginative spaces for healing exchanges that build compassionate communities. Her deep desire for a more equitable world means Gaylene is drawn to work with communities who most need such spaces. Her projects have been commissioned by the Tate, V&A, Clore Leadership, Selfridges, Durham University, Moderna Museet Sweden and BAM, New York amongst others.

She is also a respected cultural leader and has headed up major cultural institutions and projects including Head of Cinemas at BFI. She has worked for national and international organisations such as Arts Council England 9we’ll forgive her that one, we’re no fans of the ACE around here), Toronto International Film Festival, National Theatre, Young Vic and Bernie Grant Art Centre. She was a Cultural Ambassador for London, is a Clore Fellow and on the Artistic Advisory Board for Brixton House, Leeds 2023, the Advisory Board for the Decolonising Arts Institute, University Arts London. She is a Trustee for the magical ANU Productions.

About Calthorpe Community Garden

Calthorpe was founded forty years ago after an extensive and successful local campaign to rescue the land from a proposed office development. Located only a ten minute walk from Kings Cross Calthorpe, it is now a garden oasis and a refuge for a range of communities from around the globe including Afghanistan, Latin America and Hong Kong. They offer a year-round range of activities, from gardening to sports, cooking and fitness. Calthorpe is a sustainable hub which promotes a green way of thinking and an inclusive approach to life.   

About Juliet Sargeant

Juliet Sargeant is an artist-designer working with plants and nature to create uniquely experiential garden spaces. She is known for her people-centred approach to designing gardens in both the public and private realms. Whilst her private gardens reflect individual personalities, her design of public gardens and landscapes centres around story-telling and enabling communities to ‘write themselves into the landscape’, thereby, continuing the art-form of place-making, that pre-dates the Stone Age.  

By listening carefully to garden users in community briefing meetings and collaborative workshops, Juliet develops ‘readable’ gardens with ‘layers of meaning’ that speak of the people who own, make and use those spaces. She relishes opportunities to work with other creatives to express common themes through different mediums. Juliet is also past Chair of The Society of Garden Designers, and an RHS Show Garden selector and judge. She is a Fellow of both The Society of Garden Designers and The Landscape Institute and her regular media work includes Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time.

The Black Mary’s Programme in 2024

Healing Tour  

Artistic Director Gaylene Gould is working on a performance tour in the Clerkenwell/Kings Cross area, focusing on former healing wells and providing participants with a space for reflection on their individual healing journeys. The tour will delve into the slippery nature of memory, issues of colonisation and decolonisation, and the significance of disappearing from history as an act of self-care. A collaboration with local researcher Emanuela Aru and choreographer Valerie Ebuwa will help shape the tour’s narrative.  

Black Mary’s Hole Installation and Pleasure Garden Festival

A festival inspired by the 18th Century Pleasure Gardens is being co-designed with the Calthorpe Community Garden members. The festival will feature interactive workshops and highlight the outstanding work of Calthorpe as a community home, with a core focus on providing rest and respite to the Calthorpe community leaders — celebrating their service — and revolving around the themes of Compassionate Play, Care, and Water. At the heart of it will be a temporary installation, co-designed by Gaylene Gould and inspired by 17th Century textiles, that will offer a quiet space for reflection.

Community Healing Programme

A community healing programme will mark the Summer season with rituals led by the various communities at Calthorpe while also exploring lessons that can be learnt from the land through workshops and talks”.

Links

Gaylene Gould / Ignota Blog / Instagram