Enid Blyton’s timeless stories will once again come to life, this time through contemporary art.
A new residency programme will mark nearly 50 years since the 1970s television adaptation of The Famous Five, much of which was filmed across the New Forest.
The New Forest National Park Authority, in partnership with Sway-based arts charity SPUD, has announced that artist Dean Kelland will be the latest Artist in Residence.
He will spend May exploring locations including Lepe, Exbury and Burley that featured in the classic television series.
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Jim Mitchell, access and learning manager at the New Forest National Park Authority, said: "We’re delighted to welcome Dean Kelland as Artist in Residence.
"Programmes like this give artists the time and space to immerse themselves in the Forest, and in doing so, create work that helps all of us see and connect with this special place in new and meaningful ways."
Kelland will use the project to reflect on the idea of the New Forest as 'home' – a place layered with memories, storytelling and lived experience.
He will also explore themes from the books, such as gender archetypes, and their connections to childhood and home.
Known for his collaborative approach, Kelland will engage with the community through workshops to co-create new artworks, inviting people to reflect on the Forest’s cultural and media heritage.
In addition to the residency, SPUD will host a new exhibition titled Spring Fall by British artist duo boredomresearch – Vicky Isley and Paul Smith – who completed their own residency in October 2025.
Spring Fall is a meditation on memory, impermanence and loss in the natural world.
The exhibition centres around a moving image installation showing the final fall of a bark-stripped beech tree in Bolderwood.
Leaves in the film appear to defy gravity, "carrying traces of forest memory and evoking a sense of suspension between presence and loss".
Boredomresearch combines animation, programming and scientific research to explore natural processes and the relationship between people and the more-than-human world.
Now in its fifth year, the New Forest Artist in Residence Programme is funded by Arts Council England.
It supports creative partnerships between the arts, the landscape and the communities who live in, work in and visit the New Forest.
Boredomresearch’s Spring Fall will be on display at SpudWorks on Station Road, Sway, throughout May.
Admission is free.
Kelland will also be working at SpudWorks during the month, with his resulting exhibition scheduled for October.
