The idea for the Statue Trails project developed through work with the Derby Local Studies Library, Derby University, Derbyshire Museums and local history experts who having uncovered stories of heroism and profound achievement by significant female figures, were bemused at the lack of representation around the city.
We decided to work with groups and individuals around the region to bring some of these stories to light
From Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (c.870 – 12 June 918) reclaiming of Derby in 917 to Alice Ann Wheeldon (27 January 1866 – 21 February 1919) courageous political activism and false arrest, Derbyshire has a rich tapestry of important figures and awe inspiring accounts of individual women who rallied against huge odds, navigated an often austere establishment and took immense risks to achieve their ideals
Some of the important stories we are exploring are :
- Joan Waste 1534-1556
- Elizabeth Hooton 1600-1672
- Elizabeth Evans 1775-1849
- Marion Adnams 1898-1995
- Alison Hargreaves 1962-1995
- Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes AD 43-69
- Lucy Hardcastle 1771-1834
- Jasvinder Sanghera 1965
One of the things we love the most about this project is how awe inspiring the stories of these women’s lives are, each one of them ,in their own way going up against the established hierarchies to achieve their goals.
While it is an important undertaking to bring these stories to light, we also feel the need to engender that same spirit of independence and sovereignty in our methods and in this respect we will be hosting a series of creative workshops for participants to explore innovative ways to make the statue trail a unique interactive experience for visiting tourists and locals alike.
This project will be exploring digital sovereignty through the use of FOSS (free open source software) in combination with the permission-less open access public key based cryptographic networks that are found in the modern digital world.
We plan to create an app that visitors to the statue trail can use to generate a digitally signed receipt that is fully verifiable. This receipt is much like an NFT (Non Fungible Token), and serves as a ‘Proof of Visit’. This token will function as a unique digital souvenir for those who chose to participate.
In order to obtain the digital souvenir / verifiable proof participants will need to complete the ‘Statue Trail’ by scanning a QR code at each location of the trail and also by answering multiple choice questions on the stories revealed through multi media content. This will make the Digital Trail an exciting
experience that also demonstrates what we are capable of creating for ourselves with the technology available to us at this moment in history.
Got a question or want to get involved? Get in touch using the form on the Statue Trails page.