Collecting people’s stories for an extraordinary new artwork celebrating the positive contribution migration has made to the success of the city.
Birmingham arts organisation Craftspace, along with lead-artist Jivan Astfalck, Shelanu: Women’s Craft Collective and MA students from the School of Jewellery are inviting visitors to contribute to an artwork which acknowledges the contribution of migration to Birmingham during their residency at the new Library of Birmingham in November. Part of the library’s Discovery Season, the project will evolve over a week into a visual metaphor encompassing diverse experiences of migration to Birmingham.
Visitors will be invited to take a moment of reflection in the busy environment to write their experience of coming to, or being in, Birmingham on a piece of paper, in their first language. The paper will then be made into an origami flower which will become part of the ‘Story Meadow’ within the Discovery Space. The stories will be shared on digital screens in the library and through social networking raising awareness of the positive contribution of migration to the city. As the week goes on the Discovery Space will become home to a meadow of stories which reflect the diversity of the city.
Key migrant and refugee organisations in Birmingham will be invited to contribute to the artwork devised by Jivan Astfalck. Books on migration will also be highlighted by the library for visitors to the residency to peruse or borrow.
“The library is a new civic space for the people of Birmingham and beyond. As such it stands as a symbol of inclusion, a ’commons’ of thought, culture and learning. By harvesting stories and crafting them into a visual artwork we hope to engender a collective sense of what it means to belong in Birmingham. We hope these creative activities help to combat sometimes negative perceptions of migration whilst emphasising that diverse people provide our city with the capital it needs to be successful.” Deirdre Figueiredo, Director, Craftspace.
The Discovery Season programme is produced and curated by Capsule, supported by Arts Council England. The season, which will run until 31st December 2013, is inspired by the Library’s internationally-important archives and special collections.