Just in time for spooky season, Cornwall-based artist, Gabi Marcellus-Temple is bringing memories of the Victorian-era seaside back to Ilfracombe and Lynmouth. Championed by funding from North Devon Council and Flourishing Culture, “Freak Show” encompasses both a free-to-access creative workshop at Barnstaple Social Club on Wednesday 30th October from 2.30pm-3.30pm as well as two mermaid performances. Both mermaid performances will be taking place between 3.30pm-5.30pm, the first at Ilfracombe Harbour on Thursday 31st October and the second at Lynmouth Harbour on Friday 1st November 2024.
Kindly funded by North Devon Council’s Flourishing Culture grant, the workshop and performances will be an exciting, unique and family-friendly cultural experience for those in the local area over the Hallowe’en period.
The workshop will give people an opportunity to upcycle a range of scrap materials previously destined for landfill and repurpose them into bespoke necklaces that attendees can take away with them. The workshop is free-to-access but places are limited, so booking is essential. Free places can be booked through the Eventbrite website here. Gabi has created a hand-drawn zine and colouring book, which will be available to pick up from various locations throughout Barnstaple, Ilfracombe and Lynmouth, so be sure to keep an eye out for them on your travels.
For the mermaid performances, Gabi has hand-sewn a unique costume using fabrics from old clothes and accessories, painstakingly stitching each scale to the tail and fins. Exploring local mythology, disability, self-expression and liminal space, the mermaid performances will take place around sunset on each day in Ilfracombe and Lynmouth and visitors will encounter a real-life, mythical mermaid, gazing longingly out to sea, whilst being wheelchair-bound.
Speaking about “Freak Show”, Gabi remarked:
“The performance is primarily intended to be fun, engaging and a little bit spooky. The more serious side is that it highlights issues of disability and otherness, as well as tying into the history of Victorian seaside resorts.”
Gabi’s performances are always deeply personal; often exploring the more visceral aspects of the human psyche, disability and the cultural and historical relevance of place. Freak Show promises to be just that. Gabi is being supported on this project by North Devon artist John Baldwin and Cornwall-based sound artist HiP.P.