In March 2022 , back in Sheffield, our second home, ‘Ships At A Distance’ was a collaborative installation born from three days of workshops and community dinners with Ark Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and SADACCA for Sheffield Theatres, where we explored stories of movement, migration, memory, and climate justice.

The project took Caribbean diasporic infrastructures of movement and sound as the lens through which to investigate our relationship to a changing world, told by the objects that have make our ‘homes’. The first workshops saw participants remix natural dying techniques by making a ‘run down’, not of mackrel, yam and banana but tie-down straps: an essential tool for Caribbean soundsystem culture.

Once cooked and dyed, these straps had stories and reflections on climate justice transcribed onto them, taken from audio recordings of the meals hosted by SADACCA, @blendkitchensheffield , and @foodhall_sheffield . They were then used to assemble, bind, and reconfigure the material lives of objects from across Sheffield, from living rooms in Nether Edge to the yards outside the legendary @gumbofm_radio .

As night fell, these bricolages were pushed across town from SADACCA through Castlegate to the Crucible Theatre for the #TogetherInTheCity festival, helped on by a beautiful group of friends and complete strangers. It sat alongside @beckypaynephotography’s stunning community photographs, as a ship at a distance with our hopes, fears, and furniture, whilst in the auditorium Ark staged a performance with people from across the city, live streamed by the one and only Gumbo FM Rradio.

A beloved thanks to the family at SADACCA for always building with and guiding us, and to @doctortompayne , @joopyjoop1 , Becky Payne, Sally Wilson, @alex_delittle , Phillip Charles at Gumbo FM, and @terriilouisedoyle for the love and support throughout the project.