Labyrinths sometimes refer to a complex maze, like that in Greek Mythology or in the 1986 Jim Henson film, but most often the term refers to a serpentine path that leads to – and snakes around – a singular point without crossing itself. Labyrinths create maze-like patterns but there is only one path with no forks.
Walking a labyrinth has been used as a method of meditation for a host of spiritual practices and belief systems throughout history, a way to help the walker centre their thinking. You cannot get lost in a Labyrinth, but for centuries people of religious and spiritual persuasion (orthodox and not) have used labyrinth’s to find themselves, or to find a sense of something greater.
The labyrinth is a journey, its palimpsest pattern ensures that the longest possible route is taken to the centre because what is at the centre is not important, it is all about the walking and the journey.
THE TOWN LABYRINTH is a socially distanced art project devised in 2020 during the Coronavirus Pandemic. A way for audiences to engage with art and their local community. A labyrinth is plotted on the streets of the town that passes through places of cultural and social importance; residential streets; community and religious centres; and some of the town’s hidden gems. It passes by spots of beauty & regeneration and deprivation & need.
The first Town Labyrinth was created for Folkestone. Download it here, to print and walk the labyrinth.
Jim Lockey 