Fig Studio at FloFest

About Fig Studio

Fig Studio is a new project in Oxford that brings art, nature, and communities together. Based between the two sister sites of Elder Stubbs Allotment and Makespace Central, Fig works with artists, writers, designers, horticulturalists and communities to support the development of innovative new work. Recent projects have included the creation of a giant seedpaper artwork engaging with allotment waiting lists and park furniture in Marsh Park, Oxford designed by a young women and girls youth group, and collaborations with Greenpeace, Natural England and Resolve Collective.

Situated Ecologies

Launching in June 2024, the Situated Ecologies summer programme will form part of Oxford’s FloFest, a volunteer-led annual community festival running since 2013 which attracts roughly 5,000 visitors each year. With artist and guest curator Fig Studio, in partnership with the Museum of Oxford and in close collaboration with local residents, visitors and key community members including the Festival organisers, we will create The Grass Was Taller Than Me, a special film project screened inside a vintage cinema van to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Florence Park estate and the surrounding area which was donated to the public and opened in 1934. Alongside interviews with people who live, work, or visit the area, audio and video recordings of local nature are weaved through the film, celebrating our interconnectedness with the environment and the role it plays within the local ecology. As we drift through the streets and green spaces of Florence Park, The Grass Was Taller Than Me  captures the shared character of these spaces as common sites for all, both human and more-than-human actors.

Discover our summer off-site programme, Situated Ecologies.

Common Ground, Commoning Communities

Common Ground reflects on the themes of Sam Skinner’s film, created as part of Situated Ecologies. Explaining the history of the Enclosure Acts, the radical power of common green space, and the ongoing fight to save it, this blog examines how an artistic practice can be rooted in green space.

Between 1604 and 1914, 6.8 million acres of common land in the UK were enclosed through the passing of over 5,200 Enclosure Acts and Awards. One of these is the Cowley Enclosure Award of 1853 that includes the area of what would become Florence Park in East Oxford, which was the focus of my film commission for Modern Art Oxford’s Situated Ecologies programme.