Peace Camp

19–22 July 2012, UK

Something extraordinary happened in the summer of 2012 as part of the London 2012 Festival.

Inspired by the Olympic Truce, whose roots date back to Ancient Greece, renowned director Deborah Warner was commissioned to create a coastal installation encircling the UK in collaboration with actor Fiona Shaw.

Eight murmuring, glowing encampments appeared simultaneously at some of our most beautiful and remote coastal locations, from County Antrim to the tip of Cornwall, from the Isle of Lewis to the Sussex cliffs. Designed to be visited between dusk and dawn, Peace Camp was a poignant exploration of love poetry and a celebration of the extraordinary variety and beauty of our coastline.

Alongside the live installations, the project also paints an audible portrait of the nation online. The people of the UK have nominated and recorded their favourite love poems and submited their own messages, creating an online anthology that celebrates our languages, dialects and accents as well as our rich poetic tradition. Make your contribution today and be part of this extraordinary project.

Soundscape

The soundscape, or 'poemscape', to the installation was a work of art in itself. For a limited time you can download the soundscape to Peace Camp composed by Mel Mercier. This version of the soundscape has been mixed by Donncha Moynihan and Mel Mercier. Go to the Peace Camp website to play or download the soundscape.

InTents

Artichoke has been working with over 400 children and young people, from the Isle of Skye to the tip of Cornwall, as part of the InTents education project linked to Peace Camp. Facilitated by some of the UK’s most outstanding artist-educators, groups of students at each participating school have chosen a love-related theme around which they have written poems and made immersive art installations.