Photos from Pumpkin Junction

by Teresinha Roberts

at the Custard Factory

www.custardfactory.com

Monday 31^st October to Saturday 5^th November 2005

Opening night on Halloween 6 to 8 pm

This community arts project produced a vibrant and eye-catching display that appealed to a wide range of people. The installation was inspired by Spaghetti Junction on the M6 and it created an aerial view of a busy road junction with pumpkins and marrows arranged to represent nose-to-tail traffic. Trombone pumpkins were jack-knifed lorries, two marrows end-to-end were articulated lorries, giant pumpkins wide loads and the other pumpkins were cars.

Several plot-holders at Walsall Road Allotments in Perry Barr started to grow pumpkins and marrows in June. Two women also grew pumpkins on a plot that had been derelict for several years, regenerating the plot in the process.

Pumpkins come in many more varieties and shapes than the traditional ones used for Halloween: Turk's Turban, Lumpy, Trombone, Onion, Crown Prince, Queensland Blue, Custard, Jack of all Trades and many more. We have pumpkins ranging in colour from cool beiges and yellows, through greens to rich oranges and steel-blue. There were at least two dozen pumpkins of two giant varieties: Sumo and the traditional Hundredweight pumpkin. We had over three hundred pumpkins and each one bore the signature of its grower.

Pumpkin Junction was a joint production with the artist Teresinha Roberts, Walsall Road Allotments, Birmingham City Council and the Custard Factory.

See where all the pumpkins were grown - Pumpkin Patch page on the left 

Pumpkins in Storage

PUMPKIN JUNCTION OPENED ON

OCTOBER 31st 2005 

Teresinha says.....................