Laura Hopes’ interactive, sculptural artwork Cuckoo is a specially constructed bird hide with a focus on a single species of bird. Cuckoos migrate from Africa during mating season, arriving in the UK during the middle of April before departing in June. For many people living in Devon, hearing the first cuckoo’s song signals their start of spring.
The cuckoo famously lay their eggs in the nests of other, smaller birds, often killing that bird’s offspring to ensure their own survival. Hopes describes this behaviour as, ‘an apt paradigm through which to unpick the asymmetry perpetuated by the global rich upon their fellow humans and more-than-human kin’.
You are invited to sit alone in the hide where you can listen to recordings of a cuckoo’s call and Hopes reading from Edgar Chance’s The Cuckoo’s Secret.
Laura Hopes is an artist based in Devon who creates playful interventions through installation, sculpture, sound and film that reflect on and illuminate the biodiversity crisis.
Image credit: Katy Docking, Od Arts Festival, OSR projects, 2023
Event Information
Dates and Times
- 23 September 2025 – 26 September 2025
Location
RAMM Garden
