IMAGINE IF MILTON KEYNES WAS BY THE SEA . . .
The Boat Project
Cllr Alan Richards, Mayor of Milton Keynes with The Milton Keynes Coat of Arms representing the diversity and growth of the city
Malcolm with wood from a 1939 bus that had been used to ferry athletes to the 1948 Olympics
Levi Bullard, Nagahama Shoninsan and Sister Marutha Yoshie with wood from the MK Peace Pagoda
IF:2012 and performance company Lone Twin have joined forces to bring a truly extrordinary project to Milton Keynes.
As people all over the world gather to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a remarkable boat will set sail on its maiden voyage and somehow make its way inland to Central Milton Keynes.
The boat, crafted by a fearlessly adventurous team of boat builders and volunteers, will be made from the lives and memories of the South East.
On Tuesday 19 July 2011, schoolchildren, groups, community representatives and individual people from Milton Keynes came along to Midsummer Place Shopping Centre and donated wood that will be used by the boatbuilders to help create a 30ft sailing boat.
However, this donated wood was not just any old wood. Whether it was a pencil or a piano, a door knob or a bed headboard, extraordinary or mundane, all of the wood donated had a special story behind it. The Team heard some incredible stories - some profound, some happy, some unique and some that were quite simply extraordinary.
The donated wood will be used along with donations from thousands of others to build this unique sailing boat, designed to be a living archive of our lives.
The completed boat will return to Central Milton Keynes (one of the furthest points from the sea in the UK!) for 10 days as part of IF:Milton Keynes International Festival 2012.
Watch news footage about The Boat Project here
The Boat Project is part of Artists Taking the Lead, a series of 12 public art commissions across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. The Boat Project is the winning commission for the South East region and is funded by Arts Council England.
IF:2012 extends thanks to Midsummer Place Shopping Centre for hosting the Donation Day
Date & Time 20 June - 29 July 2012
Venue thecentre:mk (Shopping Centre)