How does Cambridge make one feel creatively vibrant?

Eleanor Breeze is an artist living and working in Cambridge. In 2018, she formed an art collective named Motion Sickness with Denise Kehoe and Arabella Hilfiker, and in 2019 they opened a project space in Cambridge. She is now Community Director and Co-Founder of Together Culture. This toast was delivered as part of Together Culture’s Dinner of Ideas series, with the theme: ‘How Does a Vibrant Creative Scene Make Everyone’s Life Sweeter?’ 

Founders of Cambridge art collective ‘Motion Sickness’ Ellie Breeze, Denise Kehoe and Arabella Hilfiker

‘Frustrated by the infertile Cambridge art scene, three Cambridge School of Art graduates conjoined to form the collective ‘Motion Sickness’. In a regal city famed for the achievements of old white men, the collective aimed to forge their own playground.’

So reads the first press release we sent out as the collective Motion Sickness. I met Ary and Denise in 2018 as we were completing our masters at ARU. We were motivated to work together by two things - the quote, ‘tumbleweed nature’ of the local art scene for young emerging artists like ourselves, and the complete dominance of the University of Cambridge. As we sought creative opportunities suitable for new graduates, it seemed like art projects only existed as a bi-product of academia or to illustrate the academic point of view. 

Together we began to ask ourselves and anyone who would listen: does art or can art challenge the suffocating stronghold of Cambridge University? Can contemporary art challenge the elite/ patriarchal/ classist/ antiquated strongholds? Can it freshen things up in general? Can we fill the gap between ‘the emerging’ and the very ‘established’? 

We set out to achieve some of these things when we teamed up with the Lion Yard Shopping Centre to create Motion Sickness Project Space. Within tiny Cambridge, and as one of the only artist-led spaces, we were able to see the fruits of our labour very quickly. We found ourselves surrounded by passionate people, willing to give up their free time to contribute towards our vision of an artistic community. We even had art professionals from organisations such as Kettle’s Yard and Wysing Arts Centre reaching out to us and attending our events, and it is difficult to imagine that happening in an expansive city like London. 

Motion Sickness exhibition at the STOCK gallery in Manchester

Whenever anyone asked us what our tips were to artists starting to make their way in Cambridge, we’d quickly say, ‘form a collective! It’s more fun that way! You’ll feel braver together!’ And that really was the case for us. As Motion Sickness, we felt like much more than the sum of our three parts. Although it was exhausting running the space alongside our full time jobs, the dynamic between the three of us gave us the energy to keep moving. Whenever one of us was ready to throw in the towel, the other two managed to stoke the fire again.

The fact is that creative people don’t pull inspiration out of thin air; we need to be around others, testing ideas, making mistakes, getting feedback, receiving criticism and listening to the experiences of others. No artist can create relevant work if they don’t engage with the world around them. In that regard, artists aren’t different from anyone else. Belonging to a community is a really important part of being an artist, but it isn’t exclusive to artists.

But I think there’s something more than that - by persisting with the space, we realised that we had agency. We spent ages complaining about the University, and its shadow seems to fall over all of Cambridge, but when we took action to create a space for ourselves and other emerging creatives, we found it was possible. Tackling it as a collective helped us feel more powerful, but we each have agency to make change as individuals. 

A toast - to finding our agency, and making space in this city for truth seekers, collaborators and creatives.

Toast at Dinner of Ideas