Protest: What would we all march for now?

Heartfelt focused on the theme of protest and passion. Six local older women and ten pupils from Mulberry School for Girls joined together to ask the question– what do we all feel strongly enough to choose to march for, or against?

In the backdrop of the recent 7/7 bombings the artists took a sensitive approach in opening up a space for participants to feel comfortable in exploring the theme and to speak about faith and identity in a way they had perhaps not done before.

I like working with a different person. Working with someone else makes
you more aware of how other people think

Young participant

The group explored the theme through discussion and writing, but then turned to the 3D collage work to make a record of their heartfelt causes. The collages were photographed and the group chose nine of them to be made into a composite wall hanging. This was launched at Mulberry School for Girls, and the piece is still hanging there in 2013. Mulberry School also paid for the images to be made into a calendar.

With this process nothing has to be stuck down or fastened in any way, which provides a lot of freedom to place and move objects around, to experiment. Certain objects or materials were chosen as a vehicle for illustrating a feeling or atmosphere. Others created words as part of the image to emphasize their point. Some people laboured over their pieces, others made them in minutes. It was a brilliant medium for creating fast, exciting images.

Cath Goldstein

Participants
Students from Mulberry School for Girls
Local older women

Artists
Cath Goldstein (sculptor)
Sue Mayo (spoken word)
Surya Turner (storytelling)

Funders
Lucas Tooth Trust
The Women’s Library