As part of the national arts programme, Nature Calling, the Forest of Bowland National Landscape are delighted to present new work by OneDa, a Manchester-based rapper and BBC 6 Music favourite. OneDa’s music blends hip-hop, drum and bass, afro-trap and afrobeats.
OneDa created her new work after visiting the Forest of Bowland and Pendle Hill to explore and experience this National Landscape. Additionally, OneDa conducted two creative writing workshops with members of the Pendle YES Hub. One participant, Saj, shared, “My favourite part about the workshops was meeting OneDa. She taught us how to make a song, which I enjoyed, and I learned a lot from them.”
Fresh from an exciting year in 2024, including multiple award wins and the release of her debut album ‘Formula OneDa’, OneDa’s ‘Connections’ rap brings to life her visits to the Forest of Bowland National Landscape. She says of the process:
“Creating Connections was a deeply immersive journey of exploration, reflection, and collaboration. The Forest of Bowland—vast, serene, and unfamiliar—became both a source of inspiration and a space for personal and creative transformation. This project wasn’t just about writing; it was about engaging with the land, its sounds, and the stories it holds to craft an experience that resonates beyond the written word.
A significant part of my process involved facilitating Hip-Hop and spoken word workshops with young people from surrounding areas. These sessions gave me valuable insight into their perspectives and experiences of Bowland, adding a rich layer of depth and authenticity to the piece. Their voices shaped the work, reminding me of the importance of community and collaboration in art.
As a Black artist, this process carried additional significance. Navigating spaces like Bowland—places often disconnected from the stories and histories I grew up with—challenged me to break down barriers, both external and internal. It became an opportunity to rewrite my relationship with nature and reflect on the ways these landscapes can serve as spaces for healing, discovery, and belonging.
Connections is an invitation. It asks listeners and readers alike to wander, to question, and to immerse themselves in the unknown. It’s about finding beauty beneath the surface, breaking boundaries, and allowing ourselves to truly connect—with nature, with others, and with ourselves.”
Alongside OneDa's work, the National Landscapes Association is today releasing new work by MOBO award winning Still Shadey from Croydon, Dorset based poet and author Louisa Adjoa Parker, up and coming poet Ayesha Chouglay and poet, educator and proud Lutonian, Lee Nelson. The work inspires and reflects on new feelings of connection to England’s most iconic places.
In 2025 Nature Calling, funded by the Arts Council and DEFRA, is bringing together the 34 National Landscapes in England, local arts organisations and community groups from within a 30-minute journey time of their nearby National Landscape in an ambitious new national arts programme. In the Forest of Bowland we are working collaboratively with Lancaster Arts and Blaze Arts to support our artists to co-create artworks inspired by these iconic places, and the results will be shared with the public in a Season of Art from May - October 2025, reaching an audience of tens of thousands.
John Watkins, Chief Executive of the National Landscapes Association said:
“I’m thrilled with the quality and range of written and spoken pieces we’re releasing today as part of the Nature Calling programme. The pieces are incredibly poignant, they are moving and meaningful and beautifully conjure up what the writers felt and thought whilst in a National Landscape. Our aim, through Nature Calling is to support people from all walks of life to find new ways to connect with their National Landscapes on their terms – either for the first or the thousandth time – to discover and share their unique connection. There is truly something for everyone amongst these pieces.”
Read and listen to 'Connections' here: https://youtu.be/gxe10MzSyPs
Visit www.naturecalling.org.uk and www.forestofbowland.com/nature-calling to find out more and to get involved.
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