The Festival of Change

We are proud to announce will be the first showing of art and poetry from the project Armour at The Festival of Change, which takes place at the Museums Association (MA) Annual Conference and Exhibition in Manchester.  16th and 17th November, 

This body of armour that

is the weight and size

of my heart...

(Eliot Hallisey)

Poems, embroideries and other texts made in self-defence

Armour is a project that uses words and stitches to explore the ways we protect ourselves. It is a collaboration with veterans of armed conflict and with people who have lived experience of homelessness. We asked people to describe their personal "armour", physical and mental. Artworks were inspired by gambesons, the quilted jackets worn under suits of armour, were made out of rust dyed fabric and embroidered with poems, and other writings.

Poem Danny Collins, embroidery Peggy Prestley

Many people we met were veterans who have also experienced homelessness. We asked people to describe their personal "armour", physical and mental. And to imagine what might happen if was taken off. That spark of imagining is what gave life to these poems. Out of much heart-searching, during the art and poetry workshops, came many pieces of writing. Some were embroidered, or inscribed on suits of armour made of cloth.

Although we all need protection, sometimes protection becomes the problem. Armour can be extremely heavy, it limits sight, sound, touch - and emotions. In the poem Sir Galahad by Tennyson, the crucial moment comes when the famous warrior realises if he is to let in love, he must remove his armour. But to do so is fearful as well as freeing.

Defences fail and life falls into a dark disarray

Observe yourself when the mind is viciously dismantled...

(Anon)

Imagining the absence of armour was a difficult sometimes frightening exercise. For some, it took tremendous courage to write about it. For others, it brought relief. And for others again, many questions.

"I wonder where it will lead me, this writing...?" (Gavin)

"Poetry, I've never got it before. This is the first time I've even written a poem. Never before. I've enjoyed it, it's been special." (Elliot Hallisey)

How can people who've experienced physical and psychological violence live peacefully with their memories? In our workshops we discussed how we protect our deeper selves and how we heal.

This project was devised to allow emotional/artistic exploration of difficult areas of personal history. The poems come out of the experience of conflict - but our hope is that they might help people to find some peace.

...friends friends linked linked together hand

hands safe safe.

(Peter S)

Embroidery Lois Blackburn, inspired by anon artwork

Outside-in / Inside- out

This coming Thursday arthur+martha and a group of people from The Booth Centre, (A day centre offering support, advice and activities for homeless people in Manchester) will be presenting an exhibition of our project The Homeless Library to 'Outside-in / Inside- out' a festival of outside and subterranean poetry in Glasgow.

All events associated with the festival are free and open to the public. Some have limited capacity are are expected to book up quickly. See https://outsidepoetryfestival.wordpress.com for details.

The Homeless Library is a project devised by arthur+martha to document the heritage of homelessness using interviews, artworks, poetry.  A  free ebook The Homeless Library can be downloaded here.

The Homeless Library project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Festival of Love

There are just four more days for you to see the exhibition 'The Homeless Library' at Royal Festival Hall, part of the Festival of Love. It's open from 11am to 8pm everyday.

In October it's moving onto a showing in Glasgow as part of the Outside-in / Inside-out a festival of outside and subterranean poetry.

Then later in the year it will be showing at Bury Art Gallery and museum, more details to follow later. The Homeless Library is a project devised by arthur+martha to document the heritage of homelessness using interviews, artworks, poetry.  A  free ebook The Homeless Library can be downloaded here.

The Homeless Library project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Moments of joy cure the soul

Today as part of our project 'The Homeless Library', I was lucky to attend 'With One Voice' - a Brazil/UK Arts and Homeless seminar and networking event at The Booth Centre, Manchester. I say lucky because I have never been to a more uplifting, inspiring and positive event about such a hard hitting subject. The sun was definitely shining on Manchester. I scribbled notes throughout the afternoon, I hope they give a little flavour of what was said...

Our welcome was from Cllr Beth Knowles. We've had a 69% rise in homelessness in Manchester since 2009-10, plus huge cuts dealt to the most vulnerable in the city. The 'Task and finish Group' has been set up to give voice... Art can be a way for people to give people opportunities to be heard, of conveying and campaigning. A collective voice against injustices.

Streetwise Opera, were as ever powerful, unifying. There was no need to explain the effects of group singing, we felt it.

Streetwise Opera, Booth Centre.

The Brazilian delegation were inspiring. Tackling seemingly impossible problems with creativity and vigour.  There are 17 thousand rough sleepers in Sao Paulo- one rough sleeper said 'Arts are important as it gives us dignity.'  Living on the streets is undignified, you don't have access to health, social care, hygiene, human rights. 6 thousand are sleeping rough, others are in hostels etc. Numbers of homeless people is on the rise. In September Sao Paulo hosts the "Festival of Human Rights' co-inciding with 10th September, the International Day of Human Rights. It encourages the city to stop and think, looks at how human rights are broken and citizenship on the streets... With music, art, cinema, taking place on the streets, re-claiming public spaces...

Back in Manchester, Dave one of the participants in the Royal Exchange 'Creative Project' explained: 'Homelessness degrades you mentally and physically. Creativity (gives you opportunities)  looking into yourself and positive thinking. Performances give the public a chance to see you as people who can achieve something really great. Opportunities to try something new- stage lighting, painting backdrops... new skills.

Sebastiao Nicomedes of the Homeless People's Movement in Brazil, beautifully shared: 'When we see someone on the streets we see the 1000 ways people are made up- above all he's a person, he's got a story, a past- maybe deconstructed by living on the streets- nobody is born thinking they're going to live on the streets, living in that hole under a bridge. If the soul has got sick, lost their families reference points- art is a democratic way to express themselves, to get back to society. It could be that a new person is born, using ceramics, music, paint... Art is a form of permission to express themselves and be. Reconnection. Full happiness doesn't excist, but moments of joy can cure the soul. 

Amanda from The Booth Centre explained: 'Its not just a matter of putting a roof over peoples heads, its why they've become homeless and the damage thats been done whilst they are homeless. We need to see the whole person, with their many needs. Activities are at the heart of the Booth Centre, for people to make positive choices, build confidence and self esteem, find new purpose and have fun.

Fernanda Almeida, shared: We can look at art as possibilities of freedom, creating and modifying a situation. 

Junior Perim Director, Crescer and Viver Circus, Rio, started by saying, he was going to invert the subject, What can people on the streets do for the arts? All you have to do is bring your desire. No way that art can solve structural problems... but... What can we learn from street people. They can teach us about courage... art is important for self esteem, ways to meet people, but art is dominated by a small elite, we need to borrow the courage of the street people, in a precarious world and re-take a place in art, not just to touch people but to change people- creativity and desire in people to be productive. We wont manage it without pain, but its necessary to find a place to make art.

The Homeless Library is a project devised by arthur+martha to document the heritage of homelessness using interviews, artworks, poetry. It is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Enabling: Conference

Brilliant! Thanks so much Lois. Really enjoyed your workshop! It was so refreshing!

Val Hulme, Bolton at Home

On the 11th October at Bolton Museum I enjoyed listening to a morning of speakers at the Enabling: Inclusive Arts Practice for Public Health and Well Being Event. It was great to see what other arts groups are working on, share practical ideas and experience. Speakers included Clive Parkinson, Director Arts for Health, MMU, who typical to form, gave a great heart felt manifesto for arts and health. 

In the afternoon I lead a practical arts workshop Session to a group including Housing Officers, artists, arts officers... 

Many thanks, Lois. It was great to experience some of your work first hand and speak to you afterwards -  best of luck with all your future projects.

Sarah Crossland, Designer/Owner

I've been going to (and speaking at) quite a few conferences of late. Its been a really useful experience, at every event there is a mix of great and not so great speakers, and always lots of inspiration from fellow attendees. Its so important to get out and see what other people are doing, it seems particularly valuable right now in this time of economic crisis, that people are confident enough to share ideas, experiences and wisdoms...

Czech Conference

Work from our recent project A Little Sentence, is going to be shown by artist Sarah Butterworth in the Czech Republic during a conference held in Most, the Usti Region of the Czech Republic where there is a relatively high crime rate. 


It is being held by the social and psychological centre O.sMOSTY. The conference will bring together youth workers, teachers, artists and prison workers wishing to discover innovative ways of working with prisoners and young people at risk of offending.

If you'd like to find out more about the conference it's on
www.osmosty.cz but all in Czech!