New ‘Radical Routes’ online edition reflects on Pilgrim anniversary

PilgrimAGE

A new online publication is released today as part of West Lindsey District Council’s PilgrimAGE season to commemorate 2020’s Mayflower anniversary. The ‘Radical Routes’ reader has been produced in collaboration with other leading arts programmes in the region.

Originally planned as a newspaper-style publication, due to challenges arising from the current coronavirus crisis, ‘Radical Routes’ has now been produced in an online format so it can be shared widely across Lincolnshire and further afield. West Lindsey District Council’s Mayflower 400 cultural programme has worked with the University of Lincoln’s Transported programme, bringing arts to people in Boston Borough and South Holland, and Bassetlaw’s ‘The Few to the Many’ project to create an arts-led response to the region’s role in the Pilgrims’ heritage story.

The lead projects, which are all supported by funding from Arts Council England, have a shared interest in taking a close look at the Mayflower story, its myths and legends, and at aspects that may have been over-looked, or need reinterpretation to take into account contemporary ideas about freedom and tolerance.

Henderson Mullin, Chief Executive of Writing East Midlands, commissioned new writing for the spring edition to reflect on the theme of ‘Journeys’ in relation to the Pilgrims’ story and life today. Featured content includes a mixture of articles, interviews, photo-stories, food stories and recipes, and poems.

Mayflower 400 Officer at West Lindsey District Council, Anna Scott, challenges some of the myths around the history and considers how the story is still relevant today.

“Anniversaries are great opportunities for re-examining histories. They give us a chance to think about voices that have been forgotten and why we want to remember particular stories, like the Pilgrims, and how they’re relevant for us today,” she said.

Nottinghamshire artist Rachel Carter explores her own journey as she crossed the Atlantic to recreate the Pilgrims’ voyage and celebrates the Pilgrim women with a stunning new sculpture. Jo Loosemore, curator of the Pilgrim exhibition at Plymouth’s new museum The Box, offers insights into the art of the Wampanoag people, ‘the People of the First Light,’ who supported the Pilgrims on their arrival in America.

A range of newly commissioned Pilgrim-themed artworks produced by Electric Egg help illustrate the story and are being featured weekly as part of PilgrimAGE’s history blog posts. The PilgrimAGE season launched on the 10th May featuring a short animation depicting the journeys the Pilgrims made. A second edition of ‘Radical Routes’ is planned for the autumn.

Read the first edition of Radical Routes below:

Click here to follow the PilgrimAGE campaign or like Discover Gainsborough and Pilgrim Roots on Facebook or follow @DiscoverGains and @PilgrimRoots on Twitter. Be part of the conversation and post your images, comments and thoughts about the story using #PilgrimAGE and #RadicalRoutes.