A MULTIMEDIA EXPLORATION OF THE STORY OF VULCAN

In 2024 I received an Arts Council England project grant for an R&D project that is an art-science and museums co-creation project inspired by steelmaking and mining in the UK and the myth of  the god Vulcan. Our mythical muse’s story is the catalyst for diverse themes and collaborations. Explore our creative journey on our project website and Cradle of Fire social media platforms 

At the heart of our project was a cross-genre film which was the main attraction for all our multimedia events held at Kelham Island Museum, Land of Iron and Changemakers at Homerton College (Cambridge) in November 2024.  Multimedia extras included sword dancing (Grenoside Sword Dancers), poetry readings by Carolyn Waudby, artist talks, monologues written by Sheila Thomas, a ‘Cradle of Fire’ album by Kim Cunio, animation and prints  by illustrator Sheena Davies along with local food and drink enticed many more to our events. Museum partners, Sheffield Museums and Land Of Iron, although unable to take our ‘Cradle of Fire’ vision forward at this stage, they are keen to stay connected  in terms of future iterations.

Working with wonderful and talented collaborators, partners, volunteers and communities and their desire to get involved was one of the many  highlights. Particular thanks to Emma Boden (PR/Marketing at Armadillo Central) for creating a professional website and social media network. We are very  grateful to our website developer Chameleon Studios who also went above and beyond due to their interest in our project. 

Huge thanks to all involved who submitted their time and energy, words, songs, images, video, voiceovers, personal stories and more for the project. I couldn’t have achieved what we did  within the six month period without your involvement. 

During the project, the Cradle of Fire website was the primary destination for keeping people informed of our research, events, and progress. This will continue as we actively seek future partners, contributors and funding opportunities to take it forward. Get involved! 

Please visit our website to see all that we collectively achieved in such a short time.

Cradle of Fire was born on 27 May 2024, thanks to a Lottery Funded Arts Council England grant and was completed in Dec 2024