MELVILLE

MELVILLE: URBAN AND CULTURAL RENEWAL

Melville Cultural Heritage Installation (2025)
An extensive piece of place making and public realm work that draws on local expertise and community storytelling to create a heritage narrative unique to the historic and ancient Melville area of Torquay, on the South Devon coast.
Celebrating the significant historic and cultural associations of the area, focussing on the great literary figures who have links to the area, and the diverse and vibrant community of the present day

Taper’s psychogeographic landscape works have been extensively exhibited in the places they were made across her native South Devon; making a profound connection between people and place.

The 2025 Melville works draw on this body of local palimpsest landscapes and memoryscapes, combining them with an extensive local cultural history, to create a cohesive site-specific visual, historical and cultural experience that celebrates both the ancient provenance and contemporary rejuvenation of this beautiful area.

Taper’s work with place making and psychogeographies has been recognised with an Arts Council Award from the Culture Recovery Fund and two permanent, public realm commissions in her South Devon: ‘Spotlight’ at the Princess Theatre, Torquay; and the Melville Cultural Heritage installation.

Melville : a living place

It was crucial to find a balance between accessible content and a lasting commitment to create a body of work that celebrates the rich history of the area and rejuvenates it for the present-day community.