Cody Maycock reflects on his Nestival Residency
I recently finished two weeks in my temporary studio space and it was exactly what my creatively blocked brain needed.
Continue readingThank you, Solid Blue
The Nest
Audio Experiments and Fatigue
Indira Lakshmi reflects on her Nestival Residency
It’s always a pleasure to be at the Nest!
I spent the last two weeks on June in the Helloland studio. I had been working on building midi instruments with Arduino and Pure Data for some time, having made a rudimentary teddy-bear with potentiometers that control an FM Synth I’d programmed with Pure Data.
Continue readingThe animal needs more space
Rosalind Harvey reflects on her Nest Residency
Recently I have been thinking a lot about space. The literal, physical space in which to do one’s work (Virginia Woolf’s ‘Room of One’s Own’), but also the mental space you need to carve out in which to write, to think, to create. I normally work from home and am very used to doing so (I’ve been a self-employed writer-translator for almost 15 years now), but after spending more time at home than even I am comfortable with during lockdown, my relationship to working from home has shifted.
Continue readingLike a Fairy Tale
Shorna reflects on her Hatching Residency
“Talking Birds is a Coventry based company of artists, known for their gently provocative projects which explore, and seek to illuminate, the profound and complex relationships between people and place.” These lines from their website says a lot about this astonishing company. I have recently completed my two weeks residency there and feel very lucky to get this opportunity. I was placed in a beautiful studio, “Helloland”. I must say the name of the studio made me so happy because I was planning to illustrate a children’s book that will have illustrations of gardens. My studio gave me a perfect start.
Continue readingTime to Write
Nicky Bellenger reflects on her Nest Residency
This morning, in the fresh field,
I came upon a hidden nest.
It held four warm, speckled eggs.
I touched them.
Then went away softly,
having felt something more wonderful
than all the electricity of New York City.
Games and Gnit
Colour to Colour Theatre Company reflect on their Remix Residency at Talking Birds
The plan: Start the R&D phase of creating a show that can be toured. Play with all the resources that The Nest have provided us, and look for texts to adapt and work from. By the end of the residency we plan to have a few scenes ready to perform. We also plan to be ready to provide workshops for students at Coventry University.
Continue readingButterfly Moon
Ashleigh Aston & Gareth Price-Baghurst reflect on their Nest residency
We had an amazing 10 days with Talking Birds at The Nest in Coventry. Here’s a little vlog about our time with them!
Continue readingA rare gift of time and space
Amanda Randall reflects on her Nest Residency
I had a great time in Helloland experimenting with making and photographing large paintings and drawings on the floor using natural pigments and mark making tools gathered from woodlands.
Continue readingHELLOLAND
Kim Hackleman reflects on her Nest Residency
“Language is a life raft.”
Amanda Gorman
The Nest is a home base and shared workspace for Talking Birds, a company of artists based in Coventry, England, known for their “gently provocative projects which explore, and seek to illuminate, the profound and complex relationships between people and place”(1). This week I completed a two-week, funded residency inside The Nest, in the wonderful studio called ‘Helloland’.
Continue readingConditions of Creation
In June and September of 2022, B.O.O.K took part in a two-week residency at Talking Birds focusing on access riders.
B.O.O.K (Building Our Own Knowledge) is a working group of Black artists, curators, and researchers based in the West Midlands which re-distributes resources via artist residencies, commissions, and projects – with an emphasis on building sustainable ways of working/living and nurturing the development of ‘slow art’ practices.
Continue readingSatis House
Corinne and Daisy reflect on their Remote Nest Residency.
I’m Corinne, a disabled self-portrait artist. This year marks my fifth year of spending almost every day confined to the same 2 by 1.5 metre space, my bed. During my residency my only childhood and imaginary friend Daisy helped me transform a vintage dolls house into our childhood home. I’m Neurodivergent and was never encouraged to read as a child, but at the age of 15 read my first book Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’. It was a struggle and both my family and teachers discouraged me.
Continue readingFinding the “right” words
Olugbemi Moronfolu reflects on her Nest Residency
I started writing poetry as a child, mostly because I was confused.
There were many things that I did not understand.
I didn’t understand why I had to practice my pronunciation when other children did not.
Continue reading
Words from the Birds 