2020 has been a year of tumultuous events and deep reflection. Wordsworth too lived through seismic events; he saw the 1790’s as a time of ‘dereliction and despair’, borne out of disillusionment at the course of the French Revolution and wrote about it extensively in The Prelude. Can the present also be seen as an age of despair? Wordsworth declares that if he retains a faith in humanity it is because of the benevolence of Nature.

We asked artists to consider if recent events have shaken, restored or fortified their faith in human nature, and if so, who or what has restored it?