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The Feeder Canal Sand Martin Colony

Internationally acclaimed artist Tue Greenfort has been commissioned by Foreground to create a new permanent artwork on the Feeder Canal in the form of a fully functioning Sand Martin roost in a converted shipping container.

Greenfort’s work entitled THE FEEDER CANAL SAND MARTIN COLONY is sited on a low concrete platform at the side of the Feeder Canal near Netham Lock where boats sometimes moor. The platform is directly adjacent to an embayment beneath a road bridge. Sand martins have already began to roost in core holes and drainage holes drilled in the stonework of the retaining wall which is a very different habitat to their preferred sandy or gravel structures. Greenfort’s work will be located to the left of this existing colonisation, greatly increasing the potential for the colony to expand with the hope, as suggested by the works’ title, that his intervention will lead to a significant colony of the birds establishing themselves in this unexpected part of Bristol.

This conference launches the project with contributions including the artist, leading ornithologist Richard Bland, local historians and civil engineer Lloyd Turner who has constructed the roost to explore the relationship between ecology, industrial history, global trade and contemporary art that has provide the context and inspiration for the work. The conference will be of equal interest to audiences interested in public art, ecological initiatives, urban history and ornithology.

Free, but ticketed (call box office to reserve tickets)