It was early July 2021 and I was walking from Marylebone Station to St Pancras along the Euston Road. I often do this when transferring between mainline stations - when the weather is kind and the sun in shining, it's so much nicer than going by hot, sweaty and possibly Covid-infected Tube train.
As I passed by the building that houses the Crypt Gallery, with its imposing statue-supported portico, I saw a poster.
As you can imagine, I was miffed at not having had more time to really have a good look around. I did, however, read the catalogue from cover to cover while on my train journey. And I was hooked.
I did eventually get to meet him at the book launch of the excellent England of Fire by Mat Osman and Stephen Ellcock (I blogged about the event here). Ben was one of the artists who contributed to the book.
Art and folklore together? How could I resist? I didn't really have time as I was on a tight schedule and I had a train to catch but I zipped around the exhibition of paintings and historical items and I was glad I did. It was wonderful. Frustratingly, time also did not permit me opportunity to watch the film that Ben had made called Frontline Folklore. Nor to seek out and chat to either Ben or Simon Costin from The Museum of British Folklore as I understand they were there most days. All I could do was soak up what I could, grab an exhibition catalogue and rush off to catch my train.
Sadly, by the time I returned home via London, the exhibition had gone.
Ben's paintings are beautiful - almost graphic in their clarity - and they are packed with meaning. Each canvas features the central figure, or figures, of a British folk custom, be it the Dorset Ooser, the Padstow Obby Oss or the Queensferry Burry Man. But elsewhere in the painting you'll find subtle references to the history of the tradition, the mythology, and even landscape features that are pertinent. It's really beautiful, sensitive work. And Ben, I discovered from his website, is on a mission to visit as many of these festivals and events as he can and to capture them in paint for posterity.
And I've followed his career ever since as he is 100% a man after my own heart - bridging the worlds of art, folklore and ancient tradition.
And, just recently, he has launched the Folklore Activist Manifesto - a call to arms for people to preserve these wonderful events.
Folklore Activist Manifesto
Folklore is the traditional beliefs, stories, songs, customs and art passed down orally by ordinary people, whose voices have survived against all the odds, and in spite of attempts to eradicate them from history.
Folklore questions the colonial mindset to only see historic truth and value in the accounts of the educated classes and oppressive regimes who had the privilege of the written word.
Folklore is a universal phenomenon in which we celebrate our collective shared humanity and joy of being alive, whilst simultaneously celebrating the never-ending uniqueness, individuality and creativity that can be found within regional culture across the world.
Folklore reclaims art and creativity as a necessary human endeavour for everyone and not just for the select few.
Folklore manifests itself through skilled craft and regional culture and, by doing so, is an antidote to capitalist, mass-produced, monoculture in which the value of the individual is disposable and all high streets are the same.
Folklore encourages us to actively remind ourselves that we are part of nature and, most importantly, not above it. Taking the time to celebrate the Wheel of the Year is a radical act of reconnection and defiance in the face of climate change.
There is no part of that with which I disagree.
In the past three years I have reconnected with the Wheel of the Year and I attend regular social meets with druids, shamen, witches and other pagans (including an early celebration of Yule last night with a group of local Wiccans).
I'm co-authoring a book with my photographer brother Si on the traditional events that he and I grew up with (and took part in) during our childhoods in Cornwall - most notably Helston's Flora Day and the Hal-An-Tow (see here).
I've reconnected with nature and my community and I've taken part in important local events and folk festivals.
I used my life-long love of folk art and Art Brut to create activities for children during lockdown (see here).
And I began this blog as a way of bringing all of these things together.
I turns out that I am a Folklore Activist and very proud to be.
Shouldn't we all?
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Ben's website is here.
The Museum of British Folklore's website is here.
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