Exhibition archive

When Its Gone Its Gone

  • 18 September 2025 - 21 September 2025
  • The Shoe Factory, St Mary's Works Norwich NR3 3AF
  • Supported by EAAF - if you're not a member and would like to attend this event Join Now.

‘When it’s gone, it’s gone’ is a socially engaged and environmentally focussed research project that explores the narratives of communities in Norfolk most immediately impacted by severe coastal erosion. Our work is informed by the belief that the voices of these communities urgently need to be listened to, amplified and presented to new audiences to increase awareness and influence future Government policy around sea defence.

Working across video, sound and alternative photographic process, Matthew Benington, Roter Su & Katy Hammond have worked with diverse community participant groups to explore the complex intersections of environmental change, lived experience and visual representation. The exhibition includes moving image created from fieldwork documentation alongside collaboratively created cyanotypes, exploring the way that visual culture can expand public understanding of ecological loss and community resilience.

‘When it’s gone, it’s gone’ is part of the Living in Changing Landscapes (LICL) project at Norwich University of the Arts.

The flood risk map published by Climate Central predicts that extensive areas of The Broads and The Fens will be below annual flood level by 2050. Over the last two years we have been documenting the changing landscape in specific areas of coastal erosion whilst simultaneously running community workshops to explore the way that co-created, arts led approaches can be used to raise awareness and build resilience in communities most immediately impacted by coastal erosion. Utilising the cyanotype process and its historical and visual links to the sea, we have worked with a variety of participants groups including the East Anglia Gansey Group based at the Sheringham Musem, Sidestrand Hall School; a special educational provision and the Restoration Trust; a charity that works with people living with mental health challenges. Our participants experience making cyanotypes first-hand, giving them agency and ownership over their story and the audience a unique and intimate insight into the lived experience of those most immediately impacted by the rising sea levels.

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