Cupar Arts EDEN 2019 – was the first official showing of the ‘Chronicle of Mercia’. It was be exhibited within the Corn Exchange, Cupar during our week of ‘Tales & Trails’ around Cupar.
Wulfgar the Bard aka Mike Middleton is an archaeologist working with Scotland’s national heritage service. Mike is also a local artist based in Dairsie working on a personal creative project called, ‘The Chronicle of Mercia’. Recently nicknamed “Trump Tapestry” by the Cupar Arts Committee, the chronicle records current events in America as if they had taken place in early medieval Britain.
Mike uses his early medieval alter-ego, Wulfgar the Bard, to produces regular panels and posts these to the modern chronicle equivalent, a thread on Twitter. He uses his knowledge of the early medieval period as a palette to highlight, what he sees as the many injustices, contradictions and abuses of Trump era policy. The chronicle is peppered with current and period references and the ‘Chronicle of Mercia’ is the physical manifestation of Wulfgar’s last two years on Twitter. The aim is to create a lasting record – a physical artwork, in the form of a linen scroll, that records the actions of the Trump administration and holds them accountable for posterity.
Earlier work in this style includes The Beowulf Scroll, a reworking of the earliest recorded text written in Old English.
The Codex of Mercia
Mercia = America
Donaeld = Donald
Mare Force One = Air Force One
Dyke = Wall
Fens = Swamp
Aethelflaed = Hillary Clinton
Princess Isolde = Ivanka
Vlad = Putin
Danes = Mexicans
Monks = Press
Death = Doctors
Truth = Lies
Jorvik Times = The New York Times
North Kent = North Korea
Wessex = England
Mystic East Anglia = China
Bluebirds = Twitter