As part of Ben Judd’s Stanley Picker Fellowship project The Origin, a series of workshops, performances, talks and tours took place at Stanley Picker Gallery, a boat moored in Kingston Upon Thames and online throughout June and July 2021.

The Creative Writing workshops were led by Jim Dunk and took place both at Stanley Picker Gallery and the boat. In these workshops, participants were invited to create fictional narratives inspired by the real-life history of the inhabitants of Kingston who lived and worked along the Thames and Hogsmill River.

Jim Dunk is a locally-based writer, theatre and screen actor, and theatre director. Jim is also a member of The Bradbury, a local community centre for the active over 55s. Jim lead The Bradbury’s Storytelling and Creative Writing groups who participated in #TheOriginKingston online last summer – see what they came up with here.

Ben Judd’s Stanley Picker Fellowship project The Origin reflects on Britain’s island status, both literal and metaphorical, and how islands shape the communities that live there. The Origin brings together the communities surrounding the Stanley Picker Gallery – from Kingston University students and academics to local networks, charities and residents – and asks them to imagine a classless, stateless, humane society based on common ownership. A temporary community, an experiment in living, a fictional island group. This collaborative project culminates this summer with an installation at the Gallery, a boat on the River Thames and a series of performances, workshops and events – a rehearsal for an alternative future.