The Weather or Not Station
How to Make a Forecast: Listen
Over the course of a year and a half, artists Ishwari Bhalerao and Leonie Rousham collaborated with young people, island experts, community organisers and the people of the Isle of Portland to create a series of work called The Weather or Not Station. They have been gathering memories, stories, rumours and imaginations of the past, present, future 'weather' surrounding Brandy Row, the remnants of a Tudor Cottage located by the seafront in Chiswell, Portland. Brandy Row has been witness to hundreds of years of stormy weather and social change in Portland.
What does the future hold for this site?
The 'weather' in Portland will continue to be impacted by the changing environmental, social and political climate: not just due to the climate crisis but also due to other factors such as our relationships with each other, the spaces we occupy and how we resist and organise during ongoing crises. The Weather or Not Station is a device to remember, share stories, imagine and make a forecast for the future.
This project led to the making of How to Make a Forecast? is a 17 min audio, which was presented at the B-side Festival 2023, which could be listened to on headphones while walking around the site of Brandy Row.
Throughout the course of this project, the many conversations, workshops and chance encounters brought up key considerations and starting points, which have been documented and illustrated through a deck of 39 Forecast Cards.
We worked with the Youth Council on the Isle of Portland as part of this project. Through workshops, we shared the skills for them to record their own podcasts, and as part of these sessions, made an audio piece together, which was also shown at the B-side Festival.
The Weather or Not Station was commissioned by B-side, as part of This Land.