Detouring the City : Walking Event Part of Fringe Arts Bath Festival (Bath, UK)
June 2nd -5th, 2022
As part of The Playground Collective, an international and interdisciplinary collective of artists working on – and in – public space, Tricia Enns co-created and co-facilitated a walking De-tour in the city of Bath. The aim was to reconsider how public space is viewed, used, and engaged with. Tricia Enns' participation in this work recieved travel funding from Concordia University.
![Picture of research participant sitting together during public workshop](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b7ff0ae00dccf8e238f44041811756cff1e6cb2da6be8674d8a2f7cd62a743f0/detouring-the-city.jpg)
From June 2nd to June 5th, 2022
In our De-tour we incorporate some conventional elements of the city-tour and some playful and unexpected elements. We share with the participants information and narratives related to the historical and sociopolitical context of Bath, with a focus on the element of water, on humour, and on ordinary elements of the city landscape.
Additionally, we invite participants to explore public space through prompts (succinct invitations for action). The prompts aim at creating a multisensory experience of the city (smell, taste, touch, listening, observing) and movements in public space that diverge from normalised bodily behaviour in the city.
In our De-tour we incorporate some conventional elements of the city-tour and some playful and unexpected elements. We share with the participants information and narratives related to the historical and sociopolitical context of Bath, with a focus on the element of water, on humour, and on ordinary elements of the city landscape.
Additionally, we invite participants to explore public space through prompts (succinct invitations for action). The prompts aim at creating a multisensory experience of the city (smell, taste, touch, listening, observing) and movements in public space that diverge from normalised bodily behaviour in the city.
At the beginning of the walking De-tour, each participant receives a pamphlet they are invited to write and draw on the pamphlet and, thus, create their own map of experiencing the city of Bath. We also hope that, whether or not you can come with us in June, our prompts can give you ideas to explore your own location – or next destination – in a completely different way.