Back To The Market: Merrie Panna: performance by Jessica Akerman (FREE)

Merrie Panna is a processional performance that will bring in the 'Back To The Market' exhibition at the private view on Saturday 14th Nov.

'I have been strongly influenced by the gifts and homeware products sold in the Pannier Market, many of which depict fairies, pixies and other mythical creatures. This mix of history, fiction, fantasy, beauty and the supernatural has an ongoing appeal, in many cultural forms across the world.The Beggar's Opera borrowed popular songs and folk music and reworked them for the time it was written, with its own narratives and characters. I've taken a similar approach to my research and influences, drawing widely from Devonian myths and folklore, many of which have parallels in other cultures and regions. For example, horses' tails have strong associations with transformation and magical protection. In the well known Devon folk song Widecombe Fair, a man's horse dies when seven other men borrow her to ride her to market. At the end of the song she appears as a noisy, ghostly apparition, with her "skirling and groans... and rattling bones".I have been soaking up all these myths and images, and taking the idea of collage to create new fictions, thinking about the ways in which folk tales and contemporary narratives come into being. In this vein, I have been making anagrams to create new characters and ideas, for example, of the people listed out in Widecombe Fair (Tom Pierce, Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawke, Old Uncle Tom Cobley). I love the fact that these names are listed out each chorus - I think it's very funny. Especially because of the mirroring of Stewer and Brewer and the two Peters. It's a bit unpoetic, and funny because of it.'Merrie Panna is an anagram of 'Pannier Mare', invoking a mythical horse that has been born of the Pannier Market.

We are able to provide travel bursaries to help you attend this activity. These will be paid in cash on the day you attend. Please book your space on Eventbrite and contact [email protected] to confirm how much you require.

This event is part of our 'Back To The Market' project, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.'Back To The Market' investigates the heritage of Barnstaple Pannier Market, concentrating on three key areas of research: the events around Oswald Mosley’s talk that took place in Barnstaple Pannier Market in 1934, Jeremy Thorpe’s wedding reception that took place in Barnstaple Pannier Market in 1968, and The Beggar’s Opera written in 1728 by John Gay who was born in Barnstaple. The exhibition (on from 4th November to 19th December) features three commissions by artists Jessica Akerman, Cecily Loveys Jervoise and Graham Taylor, who have been exploring these three areas and contemporary issues revolving around them more broadly.

Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to deliver a year-long project that provides research opportunities, fun activities for the community, and the chance for people to think more deeply about what the Pannier Market means to our area.