Reflections Community Exhibition Handsworth

by Life of a People Project in Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom

Total raised £1,045

raised so far

14

supporters

Reflections Community Gallery is a FREE photography, film and music exhibition featuring local people from Handsworth and surrounding areas

by Life of a People Project in Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom

We're still collecting donations

On the 16th July 2024 we'd raised £1,040 with 13 supporters in 56 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.

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Life of a People Project is working towards REFLECTIONS GALLERY, a FREE 10-week community exhibition at Handsworth Library/S&C College (date TBC) 💥💥💥 

  • Photos of people from Handsworth, Hockley, Handsworth Wood, Winson Green, Perry Barr, Newtown, Hamstead, Cape Hill & more...
  • Original filmed songs, poems and stories by locals
  • All pieces translated into 6 languages: Urdu, Pahari, Somali, Polish, Punjabi, Bengali
  • Foreword by Sharon Duggal, free-to-take zines
  • We are still finalising a launch date. In the meantime to show what it's all about, we are previewing the concept at JAAG FESTIVAL 22.06.24! Come down!

By supporting this Crowdfunder you'll help us to:

  • Put on a FREE exhibition with no economic barriers.
  • Get the work interpreted into braille and British Sign Language so everybody can engage.
  • Help to support the costs of the gallery, artist subsistence and our volunteer work going forward working within our communities.

You can also enjoy some unique merchandise as a thank you for donating!

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The Story So Far
I’ve been gathering photos & interviews in our local communities of North Birmingham for the longest now. It started out as just a convo & a photo but soon trends emerged in what people were saying: cultural joys, sending money back home, cost of living, racist workplace encounters, informal local drug economies, healthcare, housing precarity. These kept coming up, so I documented them with an anti-imperialist, class lens, making the project unapologetically emotional & political!

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The concept was tested at @eprjcts in Digbeth 2022, showing some of the photos and interviews. Those who realllly felt the work were from areas that the project was made in, naturally! Hold tight 1 guy who got 2 buses & a jog on to see the work. While I loved this commitment, it proved that the work needed to breathe in the communities it came from.

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So this time round, we're bringing the work back home. We've been working hard with people in Handsworth and surrounding areas. They have ingested the interviews like Bulbasaur taking in light, & output REFLECTIONS: original filmed songs, poetry & stories expressing the thoughts of a community - lives of carers, those seeking asylum, delivery drivers, those excluded from arts along class & ethnic lines. Affirmative action by accident:Complex topics, from the gentrification of Perry Barr, civic duty, zero-hours contracts, roots & identity, homelessness & concepts of home, refined to be brought to the heart of community. Some artists involved can’t be here no more courtesy of the Home Office, friends made & lost during this process.

We’ve faced down security to get footage for this project. Went where outsiders wouldn’t. Filmed in an abandoned sewing factory caved in roof & all.

With work from @affiejam, @poetrybyraaj, @sitcho1, @jjb.writes, @shahnoor & more translated into 6 languages, illustration by @waheeda_art, zines by @shelbyxstudios, foreword by @sharonduggal, & tied together by Riché from @ijustfinishedwork, this is the ONLY place to see this work.

We are previewing the exhibition at our incredibly supportive partner @jaagcollective ‘s JAAG Festival,

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Or enter custom amount

Rewards

This project offered rewards

£35 or more

Photo & Polaroid

Photograph of you and a polaroid by Saajan Gill whenever you come down.

£45 or more

Velcro Cap & Photo/Polaroid

Limited run embroidered Reflections signature Velcro or snapback cap plus a photo of you and polaroid when you come down!

£60 or more

Reflections Goodie Bag 1

Photo & Polaroid + limited run signed print of photo from the gallery + limited run tote bag

£90 or more

Reflections Goodie Bag 2

Reflections Goodie Bag 1 + limited run hardback photobook illustrated by Shelby X Studios and featuring Reflections [poems, stories, songs]

£100 or more

Reflections Goodies 3

Reflections Goodies 2 + limited run Reflections velcro cap

£130 or more

Reflections Goodies 4

Reflections Goodies 3 + early release limited cassette run of Reflections EP featuring all songs, poems, stories and bonus tracks on release.

£200 or more

Reflections Advert

Advertisement of your company, organisation, anything else on Reflections exhibition boards. Please submit before 10.06.24

£200 or more

Reflections Thank You Invite

Reflections Goodies 5 + big gratitude, invite to artist screening event and shoutout on social media.

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