All things ducks in Ely for book launch with the mayor
It was a day of frivolity as artist Helen Stratford launched her The Day of the Duck book at Ely riverside along with a feathered friend and Mayor Mike Rouse. Picture: CAROLINE CAWLEY. - Credit: Archant
It was a day of frivolity as artist Helen Stratford launched her book at Ely riverside along with a feathered friend.
The Day of the Duck was put together over six years by artist Helen Stratford, from Fordham, alongside Lawrence Bradby.
It uses the form of play script and instructional manual to dig away at the “muddied idea of Englishness”.
This duck noir story follows a Muscovy duck as it questions the residents of Ely.
Mayor of Ely Mike Rouse accompanied Helen and Caroline Cawley from Babylon to learn more about the book last week.
Helen said: “It was a great chance to give Mike a copy of the book as he couldn’t come to the original launch.
“It is very quirky and some people may get a totally different view of it from someone else reading it.
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“You can read between the lines and see the contemporary issues it holds.
“So far it has been great and I have been really pleased with the responses.”
It comes as Helen had a successful London launch at the RIBA Bookshop in Portland Place last month, which more than 40 people attended.
Artist Elspeth Owen called the book “a magnificently sustained political speech”.
It was also selected by a-n the artist’s information company as one of the top 10 artists’ books of 2018.
The Day of the Duck is now on sale at Babylon Gallery and Burrows Bookshop in Ely at £15.99.