Invitation

Please note that we are moving our blogs to our new website, you can follow us, read, hear, watch and look at our projects at arthur-martha.com/  An archive of blogs will remain on this site.

You are invited to a Lunchtime celebration and performance of the arts project Moving Panorama, on Monday 11^thJune at The People’s History Museum, 12-1.00.  Moving Panorama is the latest collaborative project with arts organisation arthur+martha, Singer Songwriter Matt Hill/The Quiet Loner, The Booth Centreand The People’s History Museum.
Further details will follow shortly. But for now, please put the date in your diary and share it with interested colleagues, friends and family.


Supported by Arts Council England, The Booth Centre and People’s History Museum.

Armour: Poems and embroideries made in self-defence

INVITATION

Poems, embroidery and song made in self-defence.

Thursday 11th Jan, 1pm to 2.30pm

at The Booth Centre, Edward Holt House, Pimblett Street, Manchester M3 1FU

We are delighted to invite you to a celebration of the project ARMOUR, made in collaboration with people who have served in the Armed Forces, people with lived experience of homelessness and arts organisation arthur+martha. Sharing ARMOUR artworks, poetry readings, with a music performance by The Booth Centre and The Quiet Loner. Refreshments provided. 

ARMOUR

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, made for our project out of rust-dyed fabric and embroidered with poems, and other writings.

I've never done anything like this before, many people said during the project. But the art and poetry they made weren't just a technical exercise, they were a gesture of courage and connection. They overthrew defensiveness and they let in life.

For more information please visit: /armour/ the full version of the ARMOUR documentary can be found at: /arthurmartha/armour

Partners and supporters: The Booth Centre Manchester, Imperial War Museum-North, The Royal Armouries Leeds, Tom Harrison House Liverpool, Arts Council England.

Turtle

Part of Johnny Woodhams collection

Armour, at The Booth Centre Manchester.

After the incredibly beautiful free written outcomes of my first session I wanted to try a more structured way of writing for the second session so I developed a simple imagining format that focused thoughts in a more meditative and positive way. Those taking part were then guided from a fixed ideal point through a series if questions that resulted in a narrative text as if spoken.

We then did two edits getting rid of unnecessary language turning the thoughts into poems and then did a final rewrite on brown paper. Focusing on the theme of armour we'd looked at a variety of animal shells and military helmets and decided to take a direct papier mâché cast from a large turtle shell. The final layer consisted of the poems torn up to become a pattern forming the protective shell made up of a mixture of the positive language. 

Once again some utterly moving stories emerged and it was a privilege to work with the group. 

Johnny Woodhams

June 2017

Stitch in time

It was a big pleasure to launch the Stitching the Wars quilts and book at the newly-opened Buxton Art Gallery and Museum. The first new artworks to be seen in the new-look gallery. The two quilts have been handmade in collaboration with hundreds of older people, with Lois directing the work. (Tom Jones a longstanding project participant, looked at the quilts, nodded and said, "Looking nice.")

Catherine Serjeant (Blythe House Hospice) Dr Nadine Muller and Brian Oven, participant

Phil worked on collaborative poems during the project that distill many people's experience of the two world wars, and the brief peace between the conflicts. But the poems also explore an understanding that gradually came to light during the project: there were two kinds of wars being fought in these lives, one a military war, the other a war against poverty. 

Brian, longstanding project participant and the 'Bomber's Moon' quilt at Buxton Museum

A group of participants came to the gallery, some of whom were kind enough to read the poems aloud. The power of these reading resonated through the whole event. 

Derbyshire Museums Manager Ros Westwood introduced the project, Lois talked us through the two quilts in detail and Phil gave a little overview of the project:

"Stitching the Wars is history, made of stitches, and words, and memories. 

The two quilts here have been team-stitched with over 400 older people involved, telling fragments of their stories about the effects of two world wars on life in Derbyshire. They talk about gentleness of rural life, but also hardship and the need to change. 

"Sharing of life experience and the task of recording it as writing and art brings deep satisfaction - and the stories are extraordinary. A man who had witnessed Hiroshima just after the bomb. The Sheffield bombings through the eyes of a young boy. Bridling a horse for ploughing, a tradition of many generations...

"These two quilts contain many voices, they are work shared by many hands. Some people bravely faced up to fears and disabilities in the process of making them. Annie, a visually-impaired women, knitted for the first time in years, without sight she used only muscle memory. Dorothy, who has lost the use of one hand, carefully embroidered with the assistance of Olga holding an embroidery frame. And with encouragement Geoff took up needle and thread for the first time in his life.

"One of the biggest hurdles to overcome was the fear of memory itself, because many people who contributed to the quilt have dementia. The pleasure that people got from sharing their memories in a safe environment, was a delight.

"Stitching the Wars speaks about a particular time, but also speaks beyond it's own time, because it is at heart the story of how life feels. We are all stitches in this story of Britain - sometimes it's a joyful, colourful tapestry. Sometimes the colours are darker and stitches are needed to heal a wound. We talk together, we work together and sometimes we help each other to heal."

Artist Lois Blackburn & Poet Philip Davenport with the quilt Fresh Air & Poverty

A Stitching the Wars quilt will be on view at Buxton Art Gallery and Museum until September 2017, the other quilt will be on tour around Derbyshire. The Book Stitching the Wars will be available to purchase through the museum shop. 

We are thrilled to share we have just had confirmation that the two Stitching the Wars quilts will be going on to form part of the National collection at The Quilters' Guild in October. http://www.quiltmuseum.org.uk/collections/

Quilts with a story to tell

PRESS RELEASE

QUILTS WITH A STORY TO TELL AT BUXTON MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY

A pair of quilts embroidered with the wartime history of Derbyshire is set to go on display. History arts project, Stitching the Wars, opens at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery on 7June, 1-3pm

Cover of the book complementing the project 'Stitching the Wars'

This award-winning project combines history, poetry and embroidery by older people living in rural Derbyshire, including many with dementia. The two quilts are embroidered with testimony from older people who survived two world wars.

Councillor Barry Lewis, Leader of Derbyshire County Council and Designate Cabinet Member for Strategic Leadership, Culture and Tourism said: “These beautiful quilts, and the memories behind them, make for a fascinating and moving exhibition. They are a lovely demonstration of the value of projects that combine community and local history to create art.”

Artist Lois Blackburn from the arts organisation arthur+martha is behind the collaborative community quilts. Ms Blackburn said: "This is touchable history, quilts hand-stitched by over 400 older people with fragments of their stories. One of the great joys of the project has been to witness the pleasure of people with dementia who have taken part, turning memory from a thing to be feared to a thing to be relished."

The opening event, on 7 June from 1pm to 3pm, will also see the launch of an accompanying book, containing photos, stories and poems. One of the quilts 'Fresh Air and Poverty', will remain on display until 30th September.

The project received grants totalling £38,880 from Arts Council England, Foundation Derbyshire, Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Dales Council, Age UK, The Alzheimer's Society and The Farming Life Centre. 

For media enquiries please contact the DCC communications office on 01629 538205.

Sing me to Sleep, Bury

Invitation

We are delighted to invite you to the opening to a two-part exhibition made in collaboration with homeless people. The Homeless Library and the British-Lithuanian art project Sing Me to Sleep (Padainuok man labanakt)

The exhibition opens at 2pm on December 13^th, 2016 at Bury Art Museum and will run until the 21st January 2017.

Phil B and Sing me to Sleep, photo courtesy of Janine Onermaier

The Homeless Library, is a fraction of a heritage: the unwritten, unheard stories of homeless people. Until now these stories have been held in living memory and lost when those who remember are gone. This library is a set of 50-plus handmade books, full of artworks, poems and interviews. How does homelessness fit into our history, what can be learnt from these stories?

‘Sing me to Sleep’ (Padainuok man labanakt’) is a British-Lithuanian art project. People who have experienced homelessness, worked with professional artists to explore the tangled forests of fairytale, childhood and their current life.  This is a journey through a fairytale forest- facing shadows that carry bits of some long forgotten riddles, with the sounds of words, cries and laughter, filled with an uncertain perception of what is small and what is big, light or dark, good or bad, real or imaginary.

Bury Art Museum is open Tuesday to Friday 10.00 -17.00, Saturday 10.00 to 16.30 How to find them

Main project partners: arthur+martha CIC, The Booth Centre, The Wellspring, Socialiniai meno projektai.  In the UK projects supported by Arts Council England and The Heritage Lottery Fund.    

http://arthur-and-martha.blogspot.co.uk

Genuine Workers, from The Homeless Library collection. Photo Lois Blackburn

The day we handed over

Lawrence at the Outside In/Inside Out festival, Glasgow

"Two years ago you wouldn't have got me in a room like this. I would've run a mile." Danny

We've taken The Homeless Library to various public places with great pomp attached, the Houses of Parliament come to mind. Always the readings by people who've experienced homelessness are the crucial moment, after Lois and I set the scene. But this was the deepest we've dived, the most fragile  that we've allowed ourselves to be in public. Both Lawrence and Lois wept as they read. I caught Danny's eye at one point and it was as if I was looking into a sea of sadness. And yet we made it through. And it was Lawrence who threw the lifebelt and pulled us out.

It was the day that the balance changed. The makers of The Homeless Library are now leading the discussion. Not only did their voices come through loud and clear, so did their insight. They knew homelessness, the support services, the poem making. And they shared this expertise, without sentiment, but with kindness and generosity. It wasn't just the mechanics of the poems, it was the heart of the poems that they took us to. And yet they kept the ambiguity: "I wrote this and then I read it again and I thought I don't know what it means but I keep coming back to it." (Lawrence)

Lawrence at the Outside In/Inside Out festival

What was it about today? When we started to talk Lois and I had set the agenda. By the end of the discussion, it was led by Danny, Lawrence and Christine. We couldn't possibly speak for them and frame their experience. In fact, it suddenly overwhelmed us all.

It was Lawrence who saved us. He was the parent in the end. Not only was he looking after us, the panel of five, he wanted to make sure everyone in that room left with hope. It was an act of absolute generosity. This was not a politicians' answer, it was not a dry answer. He was trying to see people's faces, read their eyes, and to answer their need.

Danny has been the ballast of many of our sessions. His kindness and calmness settled many people down so that they could write or make art with us. I cannot put into words the contribution he has made to this strange word construction The Homeless Library. He has also written pieces of work that were ruthless in their honesty and which have touched many people. Today he came to a university and spoke to a room of professors and PhDs and artists and by the end of it he was giving people advice on how to write.

Phil and Danny at the Outside In/Inside Out festival

Christine was with us both as a support worker and as a person who has experienced homelessness and found a path through. She never pushed herself to the forefront and wasquietly looked after the situation, with a sense of humour and a sparkle. She is on the door at the Booth Centre and manages situations every day that are the most chaotic (and potentially violent) that can be imagined. Today she read in public for the first time. She read beautifully, and instead of being the professional look after-er, she was the artist.

Christine, at the Outside In/Inside Out festival

Afterwards, one of the festival organisers, took us to one side: "Hearing these people speak and seeing this work affected me. And it did the same to several other people I've spoken to. It made me think about how we do what we do, I'm thinking about my practice, how I make poetry. It's also made me think about what is happening in this country right now." (Professor Jeffrey Robinson)

Part of the audience for The Homeless Library at at the Outside In/Inside Out festival.

The Homeless Library was presented at the Outside In/Inside Out festival of outsider poetry at Glasgow University. We were delighted that Jerry and Diane Rothenberg and John Bloomberg-Rissman were able to hear the presentations by Danny, Lawrence and Christine and talk with them. The Homeless Library is an offshoot of our project TWEET FROM ENGELS, which was included in the anthology of outsider poetry Barbaric Vast & Wild, edited by Jerry Rothenberg and John Bloomberg-Rissman, the festival is centred on a celebration of that book. We would like to thank the organisers Jeffrey Robinson,  Nuala Watt, Colin Herd and Nicky Melville for their warmth and hospitality.