Stephen Turner (Eggman) looking in on the Giudecca Egg Photo ©Calum F Kerr 2021

The Giudecca Egg was made from waste plastic collected and donated by local people on the Venetian Island of Giudecca and exhibited at Palazzetto Tito, the home of the Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa during La Biennale de Venezia 2019; where it was part of Stephen Turner’s exhibition ‘Natura Prima?’

It was recently recreated as an installation in the Exbury Egg for the Thamesmead Festival 2021 on Saturday 14 August. Hundreds of local people enjoying the sunshine and the joy of being able to attend a live event for the first time in over a year, came to see both this and a corresponding exhibition in the Lakeside Centre by the Eggman Stephen Turner and associate artists Dani Tagen, Bhajan Hunjen, Joseph Griffiths and JD Swann (appearing courtesy of Calum F Kerr).

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Over the last year of lockdown due to Covid19, the Exbury Egg has suffered significant weathering which needed to be urgently addressed in order to accommodate a series of new events in Thamesmead between now and the end of August. I spent the whole of last week sealing leaks in the upper half of the shell, particularly around the windows and doors, as well as treating the timber against some evident decay. I had a huge amount of assistance from Dani Tagen, one of the four artists I am working with in Thamesmead and who is due to have her own installation called ‘From Water’ in the Egg in June – July.

Dani Tagen on top of Stephen Turner’s Exbury Egg
Close Inspection shows the general wear and tear
Decay to the outer western red cedar shell of the Egg
Dani Tagen – Mission Accomplished