Cob Workshop

The Hand Earth Gesture Return artwork was inspired by the use of earth, water and straw around the world, from British cob and thatching, via Egyptian mudbrick, Latin American quincha, African rammed earth – and Kolkata’s Durga Puja Hindu Festival. The artwork reveals the shared cultural heritage of our diverse local community by exploring our cross-cultural connections to these materials; their uses, rituals, harvest, extraction, lifecycle and transformation.

As part of their research and development work, artist Rachael Champion, Amy & Oliver Thomas-Irvine & Jim Woodall, along with the Pangaea team and their young children, spent a day learning cob techniques with specialists Edwards Cob Building. This practical research informed the artwork’s development and the techniques used in production.