Sculpture + performance

Rushcarts are the centrepiece of a Lancashire custom associated with industrial holidays and tied historically to the old practice of spreading rushes over church floors to cover the bare earth.

Commissioned by Horse + Bamboo in the Rossendale Valley as part of my ongoing Future Folk Archetypes project, my rushcart uses a reclaimed shopping trolley as a base and is accompanied by an all-female team of attendants wearing bespoke pyjamas—paying homage to the modern-day folk custom of going to the supermarket in your PJs.

Two ‘broom maidens’—traditionally tasked with sweeping the road in front of the cart as it is processed through the streets—lead the solemn procession improvising with squeegee mops.