The Fruits of Conversation - Alan Warburton
'The Fruits of Conversation' is a community arts project, based in Cambridge, that kicked off in apple season this year. The project - organised by artist Alan Warburton - used apples as the focal point for a series of 'conversations' between local volunteers. The conversations centred around local issues - planning and development, community cohesion, green spaces, traffic and congestion - topics familiar to many modern British cities and key battlegrounds in debates about sustainability and biodiversity.
The project first saw a group of around 20 volunteers, from various walks of life, venture en masse to an historic kitchen orchard at Girton College, Cambridge, where they learnt about the orchard and its history, as well as the wider significance of fruit growing to the region. They were helped and advised in the identification process by a local food historian, who was also on hand to provide cooking and preparation tips for specific varieties. After collecting apples and breaking the ice, the group were asked to discuss the issues that they felt characterised their city. From this discussion, a shortlist of key topics was drawn up for the 'conversation' stage of the project, in which the apples picked at Girton were used as illustrative tools to aid one-on-one discussions. Each conversation took place between two volunteers - some strangers, some acquaintances - and lasted around half an hour. The conversations were documented by the artist and it is this documentation that can be seen in the exhibition. Large photographic prints show a range of unusual, colourful apples in various states of disrepair - cut, peeled, cored and sliced - each image representing a different local issue. The exhibition also contains video of the conversations, offering us an interesting insight into what ordinary city residents think about contemporary issues. 
The project offers a fresh perspective on how sustainability and biodiversity can enter into the public's imagination: the real success of the project was how it focused on the legacy of fruit-growing in East Anglia to contextualise and bring to life wider issues of sustainability and biodiversity. It's from small seeds that great ideas grow, and projects like this are where public engagement begins.
The exhibition runs from the 8th to the 20th of December at The Shop, 18 Jesus Lane, Cambridge. Workshops for young people and adults take place on the 10th, 18th and 20th of December. You can find out more on Alan Warburton's website: www.alanwarburton.co.uk and by emailing The Shop at theshop.xviii.jesuslane@googlemail.com .
The project is supported by Arts Council East and Cambridge Sustainable City.
Top photo: 'Traffic and congestion in Cambridge - Who goes where and how?'
Sarah McPhee and Nancy Bending-Beckett
Bottom photo: 'Town and Gown - the impact of a two-culture Cambridge and a demonstration of how those cultures integrate'
Ruth Hatfield and Chris Herriman
