Community art action against the badger cull

20 residents of the South Hams joined me in showing Totnes just what 1000 dead badgers looked like, just half the numbers shot during the last 6 weeks of the South Hams Badger Cull, during an arts action and remembrance service in the town on Sunday 9th October. The service, led by Jackie Juno, was powerful and moving, ending in a pledge to find more badger defenders before next years South Hams badger cull. 1000 badger bodies, of all ages and sizes from this years 6 months old cubs to big boar badgers in the prime of life were chalked onto the roads of the Rotherfold and the top of Totnes high street ,using 16 life sized reversible templates which I made.

After 35 years as an artist, this is probably the most powerful and empowering thing I have ever done. Other groups have since picked this up and I can see this action being repeated on a bigger scale in many of the other cull zones, now that I know how many badgers can be made with one can of spray chalk! The people who helped were not artists, none had sprayed chalk before, (including me), and none had participated in a large community arts action like this either, but all were empowered by the experience and eager to do more.

Many passers by were shocked to hear a badger cull was happening in the South Hams, and appalled at the scale of the killings. Some thanked us for doing this piece of artwork as it really made them think. More images and a write up of the event can be found on PRSD: http://www.theprsd.co.uk/2016/10/11/sea-dead-badgers-swimming-blood-totnes-sees-vivid-toll-badger-cull/

For more information visit http://www.theprsd.co.uk/2016/10/11/sea-dead-badgers-swimming-blood-totnes-sees-vivid-toll-badger-cull/