Images taken Rockaway Park on 26th June 2024.
In Hindu terms a Triveni is a location where three rivers meet in a confluence. It invariably has a spiritual denotation and sometimes one of the rivers is imaginary and symbolic, a waterway ( the river Saraswati ) which rises from the earth to join the other 2 actual rivers in the physical world.
With imagination and a certain artistic license Rockaway Park maybe regarded in a similar manner; a confluence of 3 philosophies joining in a celebration of counter-cultural largesse in a former quarry south of Bristol on the Mendip Hills. Rockaway Park conflates the influences of Punk Rock, Anarchism and the Dada art movement in a rare explosion of counter-cultural swagger, with the subversive and enigmatic Dada component being the equivalent of the mythical Saraswati.
The quarry’s overall philosophy is to foster a creative space which promotes world peace, equality and social inclusion whilst supporting and advocating protest. It has links with creatives in nearby Bristol and throughout the UK, has up to 30 artisan workshops, a school and a venue for live bands.
The photographs below capture details of the visual extravaganza, with mutated sculptures, ambiguous images and signs, anti-establishment political commentary and a bewildering array of surreal and iconic fantasies in various forms.
A key central feature of the message of Rockaway Park is its Chapel of Unrest, and its associated Congregation of Agitation, which is a monument to actual protest and to the lost opportunity of protest. Over 2,000 people from across the world have subscribed to its cause. On the wooden A (narchy) frame inside ( see Image 7 ), on a metal strip stabilising the frame, the following words of Buenaventura Durrutti, an Anarchist who led the famous Durrutti Column in the Spanish Civil War against fascist Nationalist troops, have been inscribed :
We are going to inherit the earth. There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie may blast and burn its own world before it finally leaves the stage of history. We are not afraid of ruins. We who ploughed the prairies and built the cities can build again, only better next time. We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.