The Rootless Forest

The Rootless Forest is a project by Beth Derbyshire, a fellow of Birmingham Institute of Art & Design in conjunction with the Canal and River Trust and the Arts Council England (who are providing the funding). The project involves planting a mini-forest on a barge and then travelling along the canals around Birmingham and Walsall. The forest plays the sound of "recorded stories about adjustment, homecoming and relocation, told by two families from the military and UK Afghan communities".

The project launches next Friday and will travel the canals for 6 weeks before residing at New Art Gallery in Walsall until October. The project has a website here where you can see the latest progress. The project is using the unpowered barge 505560 which i photographed at Brindley Place (where the journey will start) back in June.