Artist Spotlight: Jake Bowers
Kizzy – 2022 Forged Steel
The artwork depicts Kizzy Lovell, the central character in Rumer Godden’s 1972 novel, The Diddakoi – described by sculptor Jake Bowers, “as defiant and bolshy as she ever was”. An artist and blacksmith, he is also a member of the British Romany community, estimated at around 200,000 people in the UK..
Bowers is delighted that the sculpture has found a permanent home in a school, where his three daughters all went. He says: “When I went to school there was no mention of our culture at all, our heritage was derided and hated. Using the original Romany craft of blacksmithing was always going to be the best way to create a powerful representation of such a bold, defiant and resilient culture.
I hope that Kizzy’s presence at the entrance to the school on Rye Road will remind every Romany person that sees her to be proud of the 1,000-year journey our ancestors made from India.”
The sculpture was created by pupils of the Hastings Academy and Sussex Gypsies and Travellers to mark the 50th anniversary of the novel – set in Rye and later made into a BBC TV series – in a project coordinated by the Hastings-based A Town Explores a Book literary festival.
Simon Addison, principal of Hastings Academy, is proud to host the statue of Kizzy Lovell on school property.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply