A new artist film commissioned to mark forty years since the first stages of the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail.
In 2024 the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust commissioned artist/filmmaker Sam Williams to create a short film to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first conversations with artists at the site, whose proposals became the Sculpture Trail. Sam’s film delves into the history of the Trail, offering insights into the conversations between the early artists who created its first sculptures.
Sam Williams is an artist with a practice that intertwines moving-image, collage, choreography, sound and writing. His ongoing research focuses on multispecies entanglements, ecological systems, bodies-as-worlds and folk mythologies and how they propose possibilities for present and future ways of non-human-centric living.
Founded in 1986, initially as a collaboration between the Forestry Commission and Arnolfini, the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail is a partnership between Forestry England and the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust. Some of the sculptures are temporary, while others will last for years. Constructed mostly from natural materials from the Dean, the sculptures have all been designed to evolve over time as the forest changes around them. Over the years, artists at all stages of their careers have been invited to create artworks for this unique context, including David Nash, Cornelia Parker, Erika Tan, and Khady Gueye with Zakiya McKenzie.
There will be a special preview screening and artist talk on Thursday 12 June.