For 300 years, from the 17th century until 1936, the Oare Gunpowders Works site in Faversham, Kent was an industrial site that produced a weapon that was used to kill and destroy. But it was also a place where people worked everyday, made their livelihoods, and found community. Today, the site bears evidence of its darker past through its ruins, but it is also a nature park where plants and animals make a home, people find quiet and volunteers donate hours of care, and parents take their children to play. On 15th of March 2025, we transformed this place again into a place to gather, to think together, to make together, to be together.
This project was produced as coursework for Camille’s MFA at the Royal College of Art, and was commissioned by Cement Fields, a Kent-based arts organisation.
On the 15th of March 2025 Forces of Nature hosted a day-long gathering at Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park. This day was motivated by a shared desire to engage with the layers of history, ecology, and community embedded in this place. The gathering was a collaboration between 13 artists from the Royal College of Art MFA Arts and Humanities, seven local Kent artists and over 300 attendees of all ages, from Faversham, London, and beyond. Camille was the organizer of this event, facilitating the overall structure of the gathering, coordinating the artist call, and marketing.