Ackroyd & Harvey: The Art of Activism
Fiona Cunningham-Reid’s engaging documentary explores how Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey combine art and activism.
Image courtesy of Tull Stories.
This very amiable documentary may have a rather drawn-out title but it is one that is very much to the point. Fiona Cunningham-Reid’s film is all about Heather Ackroyd and Don Harvey whose joint art work made over more than thirty years is linked in with their role as activists concerned with such issues as climate change and endangered species. Both of them were born in England in 1959 and their collaboration which started in 1990 yielded art both for indoors and out. It takes various forms but always reflects their personal concerns including their belief that art has a central role to play in promoting activist causes. What they produce is also related to their interest in biology, ecology and history and the forms that it takes extend from such standard items as contributions to books and journals to far more individual modes of expression. Thus, they have developed a form of photography which involves the use of chlorophyl to produce images in living material made up of blades of seedling grass and, as part of their outdoor work, they have instituted a project known as Bueys’ Acorns which set up in 2007 has now produced 150 surviving young trees by generating acorns linked with a seminal artwork created in Kassel by Joseph Bueys. In 2021 a hundred of these saplings were temporarily exhibited at the Tate Modern as a form of living sculpture. Much of their work located in natural settings shares with the art of Andy Goldsworthy a desire to create out of nature itself artworks which not inappropriately will in time naturally decompose.
In discussing their work in this way I am drawing in part on the online information to be found on ackroydandharvey.com and trust that I have used it correctly since some of the detail is complex and difficult for somebody like myself who, for example, knows virtually nothing about photosynthesis. But what this documentary reveals is that the pair themselves are unassuming people who are never high flown and speak without any trace of pomposity or excessive self-importance. What we see and what we hear comes across clearly and straightforwardly. To take one specific example, when acting in support of a protest targeting the fashion industry for its use of fur, Ackroyd & Harvey crafted their own alternative mode of dress in the form of a coat made entirely from freshly grown grass (earlier on in the course of the film’s opening montage the colour green has already hit the eye).
The filming appears to have taken place between 2019 and 2024 but also incorporates examples of their previous work. Among those seen in the film are the writer Louisa Buck, the artist Cornelia Parker and Frances Morris who was the director of Tate Modern between 2016 and 2023. But it is Ackroyd and Harvey themselves who make the major contribution here discussing their art, their views and their lives. The latter aspect covers the fact that, having lived and worked together for thirty years or so, they eventually split up as a couple but have continued to work together even while pursuing their own artistic paths. The break-up is not dwelt on in detail but is honestly handled. This feels right since it is part of their story but to elaborate on it further would distract from the fact that Cunningham-Reid’s film is first and foremost about their art.
Compared to other films concerned with art and artists, this one is unusual in being a strongly political work. But since their art is so greatly influenced by their beliefs and is largely a form of activism in itself that is entirely appropriate. In her contribution Frances Morris suggests that their art is so idiosyncratic that they make you stop and take note. If in doing so you ponder the political message behind it that is clearly a response that would please Ackroyd and Harvey. Events during the period of filming inevitably feature and that means that Extinction Rebellion and their demonstration in central London in 2019 come very much to the fore when the film turns to the issue of climate change. While holding back from approving those instances in which members of that organisation have daubed artworks, the film is very obviously approving of Extinction Rebellion and its co-founder Simon Bramwell is among the film’s contributors while the actress Emma Thompson is seen in footage of the day supporting them by joining in a protest gathering at Oxford Circus. The film adds to its political emphasis through a dedication at the close which is also an attack on recent UK legislation which the film denounces as adversely affecting peaceful non-violent activists.
This documentary benefits from the natural and engaging personalities of both Ackroyd and Harvey but it gains too from being very well made. Sensibly it avoids being too drawn out and becoming repetitive (its running length is 77 minutes). That’s something for which both Fiona Cunningham-Reid and her editor Catherine Arend must share the credit. There is too an adroit and helpful music score by Richard Durrant. For any who are ignorant of the work of Ackroyd and Harvey this film provides a useful, clear introduction. Furthermore, viewers who fully share their belief in the need for activism and for the art that supports it and see that as especially vital in this age of potential environmental catastrophe will certainly embrace this documentary.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Heather Ackroyd, Dan Harvey, Louisa Buck, Cornelia Parker, Ben Okri, Paul Powlesland, Adèle Ackroyd Harvey, Tania Harvey Possamai, Simon Bramwell, Frances Morris, Pam Lucas.
Dir Fiona Cunningham-Reid, Pro Fiona Cunningham-Reid, Screenplay Fiona Cunningham-Reid, Ph Belinda Parsons and Fiona Cunningham-Reid, Ed Catherine Arend, Music Richard Durrant.
Fiona Cunningham-Reid-Tull Stories.
77 mins. UK. 2025. UK Rel: 19 September 2025. Cert. 12A.
