A new approach to understanding the impact of our work: Visible Voices

Last autumn, we had the opportunity to work alongside Bournemouth University, exploring photography as a means of better expressing the feelings of those who attend our groups. Celeste, a group comprising refugees, asylum seekers, and those in addiction recovery worked with local digital artist Martin Coyne to develop the exhibition which we presented in December as part of our Refugee Nativity. Here, Martin reflects on the process and the sharing of stories…

Stories draw us together physically and culturally. Stories persist despite efforts at declaring their redundancy. The Arthurian Grail myth keeps showing up along with Cinderella, oblivious to the idea that they are meant to be irrelevant in these more informed times. They offer us wonder and wisdom. Wonder at the difference, wisdom in the shared. Nothing is more English than Arthurian legend but dig deeper and you will find it has roots in the Persian troubadour tradition. In the tale, Parzival can only return to the land of the Grail when he allied with his Mottled Brother, a half-sibling the result of his father’s tryst with a Sultan’s daughter.  

Almost every child in the English-speaking world knows the story of Cinderella and one of the tributaries that flowed into the river that brought the Ash Maiden to our shores, is the Ukrainian folk tale The Golden Slipper. In its telling, we are shown that it does not matter where you come from, be it a palace or a dirty fireplace, it is the contents of your heart that ultimately define your place in the world. These are examples of some of the greatest utilities of art and culture. You’ll find the same processes available in the photographs made by the participants in this project.  

In my twenties, I was lucky enough to meet Colin McLeod the artist and activist who started the Pollok Park Road Protest Camp. After the road was built he gathered people together to make a boat of ancient design that, among other places, rowed to Ireland. The project welcomed everybody and was called the Gal Gael.  This phrase means strange or unknown Gael. Gael means native of Scotland, but the land of the Gael once stretched through ancient France, Gaul, to Galicia in Spain. The concept of the Gal Gael was not made by Colin but taken from the code of highland hospitality practiced by the ancient clans. It embodies both kinship and diversity.  
As an organisation Vita Nova creates an environment that nurtures this philosophy. In its space people can meet to create art and culture that speaks to our commonalities and our rich diversities.  The artists who made this work came to England as asylum seekers and refugees. They were forced to leave their homes due to the brutalities of war and intolerance. Hopefully, their photographs will help us to understand the context in which they find themselves in our country and also aid the erosion of notions of them being defined by their political status.   

This exhibition is evidence to the power of shared artistic endeavour. It is a generative force where the participants engage in a creative dialogue with their chosen medium, each other and their surrounding world. This cascades out into the experience of the audience when they appreciate the work produced. It is a powerful language that bears witness to collaboration, integration, and community. It speaks against the voices that would divide us.

Martin Coyne 
Project facilitator