This Is The Sign You Have Been Waiting For

This is the sign you have been waiting for is an installation of brown tourist signs around Norwich city centre. The signs couple recognisable symbols which blend in with everyday tourism signage, with playful twists of language which insert what feel like private messages between people into the official civic landscape.

Inspired by NNF’s 250-year relationship with the city, these signs seem to speak about new and long-standing relationships, the way places hold memories, and the human drive to connect over time and space. You might walk by one of these signs and not notice it at all, or you might double-take, look more closely, and then begin to wonder what else around you could be more than it seems, or be open to various different interpretations.

This is the sign you have been waiting for is about light touch intervention on the daily lives and surroundings of Norwich. It asks for nothing, but has something to say if you’re looking.

There are 7 signs in the installation – have you seen them all?

Does the order you encounter them in change things?

Is there one voice talking in the signs, or several different voices?

Are any of the voices yours?

Where to find the signs

I need to tell you something. Location: Norwich Guildhall

We should run away. Location: Chapelfield Gardens

Cannot stop thinking. Location: Chapelfield Gardens

1,000 miles. Location: Chapelfield Gardens

Remember. Location: St Andrew’s Church

Sometimes I think I see you. Location: St Andrew’s Church

History and nonsense. Location: St Peter Mancroft

About the artist

Hester Stefan Chillingworth creates playful, low-key and interventionist work, often making use of mundane and functional materials that anyone can lay their hands on, to create work with a simple aesthetic. Their work elevates the everyday, while remaining accessible, frequently playing with language, duration, mischief and confusion.

Find out more about Hester Stefan Chillingworth here, or on Twitter and Instagram at @hesterchill

This is the sign you have been waiting for is part of Creative Individuals Norfolk #2: Posters Pamphlets and Other Paraphernalia, which was made possible thanks to public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.