Thank You

Thank you to everyone who attended the live performance, It was a beautiful afternoon, and a fitting tribute to Louisa. Thanks to the friends of Cathays for providing visitors information on the cemetery. Hope to see you in November for the documentation launch at St David's Hall, Cardiff.

This is an ongoing project and the blog will be regularly updated. Please visit to keep informed of the latest activity.

In Memory of Balloon Girl Performance,Cathays Cemetery, July 24th 2011

This sequence of performance stills runs in order from bottom to top.

Photocredit to Joanne Sutton. All images copyright of Kathryn Ashill 2011.

Archive Photograph

Louisa Maud Evans’ grave immediately after her burial on July 29th 1896. Image courtesy of The Friends of Cathays Cemetery.

Performance Invite

Performance invite designed by Helen Warburton, in collaboration with Kathryn Ashill. All Images on this blog copyright of the artist 2011.

Artist's tribute to parachutist

The following link takes you to a news article about the project featured in the South Wales Echo on February the 14th 2011. Originally, it was my intention to make a piece of work (performance still or drawing) for the newspaper as the majority of the payments for Louisa’s grave came from Echo readers. Throughout the search period this newspaper followed every lead to find the girl, and reported every detail of the strange news.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/02/14/artist-s-tribute-to-parachutist-killed-in-1896-91466-28165330/

Project Description

‘In Memory of Balloon Girl’ is a multi- layered project, which responds to the rich history of Cardiff in a number of phases. The history of Balloon Girl came to my attention after attending a heritage walk at Cathays Cemetery in May 2010.

This new artwork aims to resurrect the memory of Balloon Girl, and to bring this history back into a public spotlight. Phase one of the project will be realised through two site specific performances at Cathays Cemetery. On Sun July 17th 2011, the first performance took place. This private memorial was performed to camera with only my filmmaker and the creative writer present. In this quiet setting we could collect documentation and respond to the cemetery without interruption. A week later the same action was repeated for a public audience, with the focus on the live experience.

Phase two of the project is the public launch of the film documentation. The film work will be shown on the BBC Community screen in Cardiff City Centre during November 2011. There will also be a publication and film launch at St. David’s hall on Sunday, November 20th 2011. The publication will be a creative document of the project and performances, which will include drawings, commissioned writing, photographs and film stills.

November is a fitting month to exhibit the fruits of a memorial project and I’m looking forward to the work being shown.

It is important to note that this new body of work couldn’t be realised if it wasn’t for the hard work and loyalty that my team dedicate. All are amazing artists in their own right. They are:

Catherine Angle: Artist assistant

Briony Goffin: Writer/ Poet

Laura Kelly: Filmmaker

Zoe Platt: Graphic Designer

Joanne Sutton: Photographer

Helen Warburton: Graphic Designer

This project has been fully funded by the Arts Council of Wales, and is supported by St David’s Hall, Cardiff.

Balloon Girls History

On the 24th of July 1896, the body of a young girl washed ashore at Nash point ( near the Newport). Identified by the sailor suit she wore, it was obvious to those who pulled her from the mud of the Bristol Channel that this was Balloon Girl.

Three days before, Balloon Girl, real name Louisa Maud Evans, ascended in a balloon from Cathays Park. Part of the Cardiff Maritime and Industrial Exhibition, this stunt would be the crowd puller, a descent by a young girl using the latest in Parachute technology from a balloon was not to be missed. As a result this event on the 21st of July attracted over 100,000 people. The brave aeronaut was supposed to ascend in the balloon and then descend by parachute unharmed on the outskirts of the city. The plan was for the heroine to be collected at this point by horse and carriage and make a glorious return to the crowds at the Exhibition field.

Louisa had decided on the exotic show name of Mademoiselle Albertina. Louisa sewed herself a sailors suit, navy collar with white trim, a white smock, and a straw bonnet.

As the crowd cheered, Louisa quickly took to the sky. In a matter of seconds she was high above the houses of Adamsdown, Roath and Splott. Many from the Docks could see Mademoiselle Albertina; picnicking families who lined the Penarth cliffs to see this amazing sight could even see her. The balloon travelled at great speed over Newport Road and the infirmary, where the wind suddenly dropped, causing the balloon to rapidly gain height.

5,000 feet in the Cardiff air, Balloon Girl had no choice but to release herself from the harness and parachute into the Bristol Channel. Her heavy parachute, made from cloth and wood, weighed over 30lbs. It was this apparent lifesaver that dragged her to the murky depths of the water. Louisa Maude Evans drowned at the age of 14 and half years.

The people of Cardiff paid for her tombstone and funeral via subscription. Her body now rests at Cathays Cemetery.