The Radical National Trust of South Essex is an artwork by Alan Kane which takes the form of a body of research and corollary activity aimed at celebrating and recording some of the creative energy people commonly express through adapting, improving or personalising their homes. It is hoped that this project will highlight as valuable the small gestures which seem to currently be considered of limited cultural value and which are at risk – because of their apparent low status – of passing without being recorded.

The project is loosely concerned with the geographic region of South Essex which has relatively few National Trust properties and suffers from a certain amount of bad press in respect of its cultural contribution. While the project in no way attempts to rectify these issues it is none the less interesting to consider what is actually being commonly produced now, that through scarcity and age might become the area’s real legacy.

Kane will develop the archive other the next few months, becoming accessible via Essex Records Office later in the year. Further information regarding events will be soon made available.