Art / Sculpture
Giant spider finds new home
An artwork that was originally used to shed light on the felling of Maple trees in St Paul’s is being shown at a new exhibition.
The one day exhibition at Trinity Centre will showcase the work as part of its ongoing two-year project exploring 100 years of social activism, protest and civil disobedience in Bristol.
The exhibition charts the lived stories of inner-city Bristolians and explores the city’s history of grass-roots artistic, community and cultural movements.
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The spider’s creator, Rowland Dye, former nuclear physicist and environmental activist, says the spider represents Anansi, a spider from African and Caribbean folklore that uses creativity and wit to overcome.
The giant spider previously resided on City Road – photo: Mia Vines Booth
The giant spider, made out of plastic and other recycled materials, sat in the last Norwegian Maple tree in St Paul’s as part of the ‘Save the M32 Maples’ campaign back in November 2020, when campaigners protested against the felling of five maple trees as part of redevelopment plans to build student flats and offices in the area.
The trees were eventually felled, but Rowland is continuing his fight against developers.
A new campaign, ‘Save the Baltic Wharf Trees’, hopes to save what protestors call the “the last green space on the Harbourside”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cif3t_Zs3Ax/?hl=en-gb
A current planning application will see “high density high rise flats” installed in the green space, which campaigners argues will result in the loss of 74 mature trees.
The ‘Tree Brides’ have been campaigning at The Cottage Inn, near Baltic Wharf Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite, where a “Tree Brides Anniversary” is due to be held on Saturday afternoon.
Main photo: Mia Vines Booth
Read next:
- ‘Lavish Vandalism’: The debut solo exhibition from Duke Mitchell
- Turning fallen trees into amazing works of art
- Film set in Hartcliffe heading for national run following big screen success
- Princess Caraboo is latest sculpture by Getting Up To Stuff
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