A film of deep time, shared stories and common futures

Commons is an expansive and thought-provoking new film by acclaimed artist David Blandy, presented for the first time at The Amelia Scott in Tunbridge Wells. The work has been co-commissioned by The Amelia Scott and Film and Video Umbrella as part of the programme for The Open Road. Blending archive, local history, nature, and storytelling, Commons invites audiences on a journey through the ancient woodlands and shared spaces of Tunbridge Wells Commons.

Inspired by The Canterbury Tales, the film reimagines the pilgrimage as a modern matrix of stories, exploration of land, memory, and coexistence. Told through the perspectives of animals, fossils, and a broken mobile phone, Commons is a layered visual tapestry that connects past and present, human and non-human, through stories rooted in the local landscape.

Narrated by local voices and unexpected characters who come together to share their stories as observers through time, the exhibition invites you to slow down, listen deeply, and explore new ways of connecting with the land and its histories.

Commissioned for The Open Road by The Amelia Scott, Tunbridge Wells, as part of the Kent and Medway Museum Partnership National Portfolio Organisation, and Film and Video Umbrella. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

The Open Road is a series of artists moving image works, co-commissioned by a partnership of visual arts organisations; Film and Video Umbrella, The Amelia Scott, Cement Fields, FLAMIN, FormaHQ, and Three Rivers.