Bermudian artist Ami Zanders was selected by the UK Jersey Arts Trust to take part in a unique project that involved being locked up in a castle for ten days with a group of other artists to let loose their creativity.

The Artists Lock-In was the brainchild of the trust, which tied the event into the NatWest Games being hosted there — the artists chosen each represented the different countries represented in the games.

The lock-in aimed to reflect the inclusive and co-operative ethos of the Island Games, with the participating artists collaborating over the ten days at the Island of Elizabeth Castle to develop shared work around the theme of “Islandness”.

Ms Zanders described the trip as “one the craziest, most exciting things I have ever done”, and said that Bermuda could benefit from a similar event hosted on our shores. “It would be really cool if we could do something similar here. I would really like to get people interested. Bermuda would be perfect for this kind of experience.

“We had to collaborate with each other to create stories, songs, dances, puppet shows, art installations all over the castle grounds and Nazi Bunkers. I was stuck with dancers, musicians, poets, costume designers.”

News outlets from the artists’ countries of residence covered the retreat and CNN interviewed some of the artists participating.