Back to Helsinki

Whoa, the last few days have been amazing but exhausting! So many interesting people and presentations, and such wonderful poems! We've updated photos of the caches to our previous post, and here are pictures of what we found in them on yesterday evening when we went to collect them. We've also transcribed them as best as we could, although some words remain a bit mysterious. 

All in all, the poems managed to catch a glimpse of the themes and the atmosphere of the symposium's programme in each venue.

In Contemporary the day was filled with papers and discussion with different approaches to dialogue, and the poets seemed to have been a bit overwhelmed. There was even a separate note added to the cache's poem, apparently written already during a lecture. 

"Artists wobble our sense of connections!

The wind blows away our sense of directions
Glimpsed lace
Gold cladded walls.
My inner voice babbles incoherently.
Too right it does"

"Found Poetry Day 1 (Free poetry)
There is no self outside the other

Unclench yourself from very
traditional notions of
aesthetics

Find your radical interiority

* * *

We talk with tenderness

Wounds response-ive

Mostly women

Mostly listening

Drawing upon drawing

Wobbling people's sense of 

connections...

Great teachers who left us alone."

In Backlit the programme was more loose, containing performances, dinner and many interesting conversations. The bar was open as well, which was also reflected to the cache poem: it was playful, yet highflown and even philosophical.

"Ford Focus yellow line

shadow lamp o brother

Focus your eyes on the prize

The classic touch before your eyes

80's power ballad

Greek salad

We roam this touchwood world

which forms the roof of hell

admiring flowers

The only people are the right people

We know!

Full up

Full up

Rich

What did they

- say.
Echo women
- I loved you"

In Primary there were so many interesting workshops going on during the whole day, that the poem caching couldn't engage as many participants as in the other venues, but in the end, a few lines of a poem had appeared in the Primary's cache as well.

"Cold conspiracy, 
that's how it's going to be.

Not going to give the game away.

In the dark there was 
nothing we could see.

Help came to us and saved the day."

Today the poems were supposed to be presented at the symposium's farewell brunch, which we unfortunately missed. We've been promised a documentation of it though! Looking forward to seeing it... Thank you Nottingham, this was fun!

Take part in Poem Caching!

Poem Caching playfully combines geocaching with communally created site-specific poetry. There's one Poem Cache hidden on the grounds of each venue of the In Dialogue symposium in Nottingham from Oct 1st Wednesday evening until Oct 4th Saturday afternoon. The poems will be then presented during the communal meal on Saturday evening. Remember that the caches are located very close to each venue, so you will have time to search for them even during short breaks!

We are happy to announce the coordinates, both geographical and poetic ones, for the caches! Here they are:

Nottingham Contemporary,

N 52°57.063'

W 001°08.735'

On the backside

of a borderline

reflections melt

towards the ground

Dare to face

a non-space

where you cannot pace

without sound.

Backlit,

N 52°57.348'
W 001°08.097'

What are they keeping

out – or in –

the bars and locks

of Ashley?

Close, closer, closed to hide,

but gently, not too far inside.

Primary,

N 52°57 340'

W 001°10.092'

Snake in play

stalking her prey

in hide and seek

across the grey.

Quick, behind the corner!

She won't find us

from this cave!



 

Poem Caching is a part of the official programme of In Dialogue symposium 2014 in Nottingham, UK. It is an art project by two Finnish artists, Suvi Nurmi and Saara Honkanen.

It's beginning!

The Poem Caches are now officially in their hiding places, one near each venue of the In Dialogue symposium. We will post the coordinates and some hints about their locations tomorrow morning. Stay tuned!

Getting ready for Nottingham

The Poem Caching is going to start tomorrow! We're excited to come to Nottingham. We'll hide the caches on Wednesday evening, and they will stay in their places until Saturday evening.

There will be one poem cache placed near each venue of the In Dialogue symposium: Nottingham Contemporary, Backlit and Primary. We hope that the delegates of the symposium (and why not other poets as well) will find time to explore the surroundings of the venues during the symposium and participate in this playful outdoor adventure!

On Saturday Oct 4th the caches will be collected away, and the communally produced site-specific poems will be presented during the meal on Saturday evening at Primary.

About Poem Caching

In Poem Caching the internationally popular geocaching hobby is combined to communally created site-specific poetry. The idea is to emphasize details from urban environment and to celebrate them with unique poems that are created through dialogue.

Throughout the symposium there will be three caches hidden on the route between the In Dialogue venues. The Poem Caching blog provides a map which shows the approximate locations of the caches and their coordinates. Every cache is provided with a piece of paper and a pen, plus instructions: if there isn't any writing on the paper yet, the finder can start a poem by writing a couple of verses on the paper, inspired by the location of the cache. If there are already some verses written, the finder can continue the poem with verses of their own, reacting both to the existing text and the location.

The poems will be published along with pictures of the locations in the Poem Caching blog.

The first run of the Poem Caching was held as a part of the World Poetry Day festival in Helsinki in March 2014. In the beginning of October 2014 we are bringing it to the In Dialogue Symposium in Nottingham, England. This blog will go active in the end of September 2014.