Restless is an arts activism project about community, visibility and voice for survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.
The project is named for her - the restless sea - she just keeps going no matter what [...] She is my role model and an object lesson in activism. Every single drop is significant, the sea is made up of millions and squillions of them and collectively they are powerful beyond measure. (Viv Gordon)
Restless is live outdoor work grounded in landscape. It involves walking in coastal landscapes and using that experience to write poems and songs that talk about survivor journeys - of exposure, navigating challenging territory, being on the edge and the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other.
Restless combines walking with creative research, spoken word, music, combined arts and participatory actions for survivors and allies online and in the landscape. The sea provides a central metaphor of the power of continuous collective action to make change. ​
Our vision for Restless is for it to become a big, bold live music and outdoor spectacle, co-created with child sex abuse survivors. We want to use punky, anarchic art to shout it from the clifftops, that thing that most people can't talk about!

Our Restless Journey

International Collaboration 2022

 We are delighted that we were selected for a British Council Unlimited Micro Award to collaborate with Turkish CSA survivor, writer and activist Meliha Yildiz on taking our Restless project beyond the UK. 

Meliha and Viv tested a model of remote collaboration over a three-day creative research walk, meeting online to plan creative prompts and share cultural practices. The project finished with Viv reading Meliha's words at the Reclaim the Night 2022 event in Cornwall.

This project was funded by a British Council Unlimited Micro Award, supporting connections between UK and international disabled artists.

Restless 2021 - Punk is Alive!

In May 2021, Viv walked just over 100 miles from Starcross to Plymouth on the South Devon Coast Path. Along the way she wrote poems and songs that will be used as inspiration for the Restless album.

We explored various music styles during this time and decided on punk as an authentic format to represent Viv’s voice going forward.
 
During the 2021 residency, Viv also held community days with groups in Devon, together with Devon Rape Crisis, Sunflower Project, MoMENtum and Women's Centre Cornwall.

Viv wrote and recorded video blogs each day too, which she shared on Viv Gordon Co social media. 

Artistic collaborators

Key artistic collaborators are Quinta and Thomas Johnson, who will co-compose the music for Restless to Viv's lyrics, and perform live at gigs and sharings.
Quinta is an experimental composer and multi-instrumentalist, solo artist and member of Collectress. With a background in third sector activism, Quinta is co-founder of Music in Detention and spent formative years working with Music in Prisons and participatory film-makers, Living Lens. She was Music Fellow at Rambert 2015/16, British Council Musician-in-Residence China 2016/17 and PRSF Composers Fund awardee 2019. Find out more at www.quintamakes.com
Thomas is a composer, musical director, musician, and theatre maker. He studied at Oxford University. He has composed music for theatre companies including the National Theatre, Viv Gordon, Tobacco Factory Theatres, Theatre Alibi, the Egg Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, Exeter Northcott, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Nottingham Playhouse, London Bubble, Ludlow Festival, Travelling Light, Birmingham Stage Company and TNT. Find out more at www.thomasjohnsoncomposer.com

She walks ...

We launched She walks… a new music track and animation exploring the unknown territory of surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse on the 25th November 2020 (to coincide with the first day of the 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence). Inspired by walking coastal landscapes, the short digital artwork shares survivor experiences of feeling far away, navigating difficult journeys and living on the edges of society. She walks... was inspired by a poem Viv wrote whilst walking along the South West Coast Path on Portland in 2018. 
The intention is to give greater voice and visibility to the 11 million adult survivors of CSA in the UK. The end result is starkly beautiful and haunting. It does not flinch away from uncomfortable truths but looks to the sea for inspiration to keep going. The sea represents a positive, restless force which has the power to change the landscape over time.
She walks... Credits
Artistic Director: Viv Gordon 
Lyrics and Vocals: Viv Gordon and JPDL 
Backing Vocals : Quinta 
Music and Production: Quinta 
Drums: Alex Thomas 
Vocal Engineering: Sam Fryer
Mixing: TJ Allen 
Mastering: Shawn Joseph
Animator: Lou Sumray 
Project Producer: Kate McStraw

#MyLineInTheSand

Join the Campaign

The survivor experience is often a lonely one. We want to overcome the isolation by building a community of survivors and allies where we can feel welcome, accepted and know that our voices are heard.

Join our campaign to draw a line under the silencing of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Grab whatever you have to hand to write words of community, connection and belonging and then post it on social media using the hashtag #MyLineInTheSand

Words can be written in the sand or anywhere - outdoors we’ve seen people use seaweed, driftwood, leaves and pebbles but we’ve also had contributions made out of playdough, tomato ketchup on a plate and written on steamed up mirrors! It’s the words that matter! Anyone can get involved whether you’re a survivor, know a survivor or just care about the issue.
Restless is supported by public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England
with additional support from 101 Outdoor Arts, British Council Unlimited Micro Award, Exeter Northcott Theatre, Strike a Light, Devon Community Foundation and Morley Radio.