Island in a River (2024)
Permanent Exhibition, Yarm, England
Island in a River is a new, permanent exhibition created by Matthew Rosier and produced by Mediale for the newly refurbished Yarm Town Hall Heritage Centre in Stockton on Tees.
Celebrating Yarm’s ancient connection to the River Tees and location on the horseshoe bend of the river, the exhibition features a collection of local artefacts interpreted by ten films, created by the artist in close collaboration with around 100 local residents. The objects are displayed inside the exhibition centrepiece – a replica iron age canoe, carved by local volunteers throughout summer 2023 from a washed up tree, inspired by a prehistoric canoe found (and subsequently lost) 150 years ago. Thought to be the earliest sign of life in the town. At night, reflections of the river Tees and it’s many users float past the canoe, connecting river use past and present.
Credits
Artist: Matthew Rosier
Producer: Mediale
Commissioned by: Yarm Town Council
Videography: Carl Joyce
Exhibition design & fabrication: Kunstruct
Visual identity: Supanaught
AV design & install: ArtAV
Silver nose: Petee Musson
Canoe: Anthony Lloyd-Wallis with Friends of True Lovers Walk
Access consultation: Liz Leck
Photography: Luke O'Donovan
Live performance, Kings Place, London
A live performance of City of Trees featuring holographic projections of ancient trees from Epping Forest, and the music originally created for the City of Trees installation, performed by NYX and Laura Misch.
Credits
Music: NYX & Laura Misch
Visuals: Matthew Rosier
Commissioned by: Kings Place
Photos: Ella Pavlides
Video: Alex Leggatt
Public artwork, Salford, UK
An artwork recognising the role of the 17,000 navvies who dug the Manchester Ship Canal. From their labour flowed the city of Salford, Greater Manchester’s industrial success, and eventually: The Quays and Media City itself. It is estimated by the Navvies Union that up to 1,100 of these navvies died digging the Canal, with more injured. These were men who migrated from all areas of the UK, alongside thousands from Ireland, who in particular faced extreme prejudice.
The project was formed around the action most synonymous with the navvy: digging. The multi-strand project was made with the Salford community and comprised of a series of workshops and events, a new co-created piece of orchestral music, the creation of a navvies community garden at MediaCity, and culminated in an audio visual installation in the Ship Canal itself.
More info: https://salfordnavvies.com/
Credits
Artist: Matthew Rosier
Music: Composer; Hayley Suviste. Arranged by Daniel Whibley and recorded by the BBC Philharmonic.
Executive Producer: Mediale
Commissioned by Mediale, Quays Culture and MediaCity
Workshops & Consultation: Dr Jessica Symons
Community Group: Salford Loaves & Fishes
Supported by Arts Council England, Historic England and Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Wood Rots Like We Do (2023)
Film, 71 minutes
A film about the ancient shrines of Ise, entirely rebuilt of wood every 20 years, and what they can teach us about regenerating forests today. The film is the outcome of a four year collaboration between Matthew and the city of Ise, Japan. Culminating in a film told through the stories of 14 participants including priests, politicians, artists, NGOs, activists, foresters, carpenters and architects.
Film available here: https://vimeo.com/861179753
Film by: Matthew Rosier
Videographer: Will Heynen
Organised and funded by: Ise City
Supported by: British Council
Local coordination support: Living Together Co. (Yoko Negami, Yuko Sato, Mami Katsuya, Akane Kanagawa)
Additional funding: DAIWA Foundation & Arts Council England
Tokyo / Nagano coordination support: Minami Hirayama
Japanese transcription: Minami Hirayama
Graphic design: Minami Hirayama
Sound design & composition: Greg White
Live translation: Keiko Yamaguchi, Kei Nakayama, Jaime Humphreys, Nanami Akimoto
City of Trees (2021)
Public art installation & video series
A public installation and video series exploring Epping Forest’s ancient, symbiotic relationship with humans and London. Life-size video portraits of Oak, Beech and Hornbeam pollards from Epping were projected onto St Mary Aldermary Church in the City accompanied by an immersive soundscape by James Bulley and original musical score for each by NYX and Laura Misch – recorded in Epping Forest – and benches formed from two halves of a recently felled oak from Epping. The accompanying video series, exploring the ecological and social history and future of the forest can be viewed here. Commissioned by the City of London Corporation as part of their outdoor arts programme A Thing of Beauty.
Artist: Matthew Rosier
Music: NYX, Laura Misch, James Bulley
Benches: Saunders Seasonings
Accompanying films & installation video: Greg Barnes
Project Assistant: Greg White
City of London: Laurie Miller-Zutshi, Alice Spalding
Thanks: St Mary Aldermary Church, Luke Turner, Paul Wood, Tab Binding, Nina Williams, Gavin Bodenham
Photos: Ben Broomfield, 2021