'Hartlepool is where my heart is': Follow people's personal journeys with Waterfront Festival art project

Different generations’ stories of living in Hartlepool are brought to life in a new arts project created for this weekend’s Waterfront Festival.
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The Wayfinder project has been specially produced by artists from London-based organisation Output Arts and Hartlepool’s Northern School of Art.

Art students interviewed people of all ages and backgrounds to give a unique insight into their personal journeys and about what Hartlepool means to them.

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The Wayfinder project works by visitors following a trail in Hartlepool Marina and listening to interviewees’ recordings which play automatically through a compass at certain spots.

Jonathan Hogg from Output Arts holding a boxed compass that is used to locate a "wayfinder" listening point. Picture by Frank ReidJonathan Hogg from Output Arts holding a boxed compass that is used to locate a "wayfinder" listening point. Picture by Frank Reid
Jonathan Hogg from Output Arts holding a boxed compass that is used to locate a "wayfinder" listening point. Picture by Frank Reid

Costume students even made nautical hats for participants to wear.

Artist Jonathan Hogg, of Output Arts, explained: “It’s a development of a similar piece we did a few years ago called Lost and Sound which used a metal detector on a beach.

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“We wanted to make something along those lines, but on a bigger scale where you are taken on a journey which is where the idea for the compass came from.”

A boxed compass in The Historic Quay at a "wayfinder" listening point. Picture by Frank ReidA boxed compass in The Historic Quay at a "wayfinder" listening point. Picture by Frank Reid
A boxed compass in The Historic Quay at a "wayfinder" listening point. Picture by Frank Reid

The Hartlepool Mail was given a special preview of the project and were led around the route by Output Arts’ Andy D’Cruz.

Participants follow the needle on the compass which includes geo-tagging technology.

The compass’s blinking green light turns blue whenever we reach a place where new recording kicks in.

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Outside the Jackson’s Wharf pub an elderly lady talks about how she met her husband and raised a family.

A slipway into the Hartlepool Marina that is one of the"wayfinder" listening points. Picture by Frank ReidA slipway into the Hartlepool Marina that is one of the"wayfinder" listening points. Picture by Frank Reid
A slipway into the Hartlepool Marina that is one of the"wayfinder" listening points. Picture by Frank Reid

Inside the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the voice of a historian who taught children about HMS Trincomalee is heard.

Further round a musician talks about his travels around the world before coming back to Hartlepool.

The trail begins and ends at the waterfront (former Jackson’s Landing) site and ends with a short boat trip across the dock.

Wayfinder runs throughout today and tomorrow.

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