During my few days in the square I hoped to be able to catch glimpses of the animal and insect worlds of the park. I wondered if it was possible to encounter what anthropologist Anna L. Tsing calls hidden collaborations in nature, through an activity of drawing. I wanted to be enchanted despite of the thunder of traffic around the square. With people from all walks of life co-occupying the space I wanted to seek out, to draw, and to wonder human and more-than-human forms of life in the park.

Drawing on the grass under one of the oldest London plane trees in the city I waited and looked. I soon discovered that there was a lot happening around me. Observing animals made me wonder how all species seemed to live with their own sense of time. The assemblies of the woodlice and the moths in the trees must date back to the 18th century when the trees were planted. I tried to draw the animal’s movement, their rhythm of existence.

Animals and insects of the square was also the theme of a family painting workshop I facilitated at the end of the week for Pop-up Painting in the West End. The event was part of Inside Out Festival, a collaborative effort of the cultural organisations in the area to bring art outdoors for all to enjoy.

The free Saturday workshop was simultaneous with other public squares of West End being occupied by artists painting al fresco, and members of the public being invited to join in. People of all ages came to look for animal life in the square and to visually respond. All were invited to display their work in an outdoor exhibition in Grosvenor Square. That’s where the participating artists and members of the public gathered to spend the summer evening together.