Caravan

Bronze
70 x 28 x 20cm
Series of 5

Caravan is a group of figures that are combined together in a connection of ropes. Unable to escape, they are forced to walk in step together, supporting the ropes that hold and each other. This harness holds them together like reindeer, denoting teamwork but is it volunteered or is it or have these figures had no option?

These are human figures who are held fast, evocative of animals. This maquette was created after Edwards spent an autumn on the Russian Tundra, alongside the anthropologist Piers Vitebsky, who studies reindeer herders and whose lives are almost completely isolated. Each figure has its own separate base and their faces all appear different highlighting their individuality and that perhaps the rope is their only commonality. Like the herders on the Russian tundra, each is individual but they rely on each other and their reindeer in order to survive.