The Black Cloud

In July 2009, a large-scale pavilion structure was erected through a community barn-raising in Victoria Park, Bristol. The Black Cloud was designed by artists Heather and Ivan Morison in association with architect Sash Reading. The structure served both as a performance venue and as a host for events organised by the artists.

The project began when Heather and Ivan Morison undertook an Arts & Ecology residency in 2007 jointly managed with the RSA’s Art & Ecology programme. The Black Cloud was designed in readiness for a future boiling Bristol, baked dry by a relentless burning sun. The structure was informed by vernacular architecture built to withstand extreme environmental conditions, and the Yakisugi treatment of the timbers creates a scorched, protective shield incorporating a roof design based on the Shabono shelters of Venezuela, which are characterised by an exposed communal zone in the centre with sheltered living space around the periphery. The Black Cloud also gathered around it a growing temporary community and was open for park users, local residents, groups and organisations to carry out their own events for free.