HIVE Workshop 2015

April 2015: I recently photographed an event in Rochester Cathedral called HIVE. This was an afternoon commission that was well attended and fascinating to follow/record how members of the public interpreted the brief. The finished tiles (55 in total) looked fantastic.

HIVE is a community arts project funded by Ideas Test. Local (Kent based) people and beekeepers participate in the creation of tiles created out of pure wax.

The creative workshops involve members of the public creating their designs onto a square sheet of tracing paper, then transferring the design to the beeswax tile, lastly the design is cut into the beeswax.

Kent based artist Kate Linforth (pictured below) is using beeswax donated by local beekeepers and offering free creative workshops where participants will create beautiful beeswax tiles. This project encourages people to have a go at arts and creativity and to raise awareness of the importance of bees.

Participants create their own tiles inspired by what bees mean to them: it could be a simple word, a pattern, a drawing, or a poem. All tiles are displayed across Swale and Medway, in churches (including Rochester Cathedral).

Once the sculpture has toured, the tiles will be melted back down and the wax will be returned to the beekeepers (who  donated it), ensuring the environmental impact of the project is minimal.

For further information on the HIVE project visit: https://www.facebook.com/hiveartinstallation