Paul Muchmore
An exhibition on Old Street is attempting to break down social barriers by telling the stories of homeless and disadvantaged people through art.
Untold Stories, a mixed media project created by the London homelessness charity SHP, has taken over the Together Our Space Gallery for three weeks. It presents a variety of paintings, sculptures, portraits as well as interviews and poems, produced in collaboration between clients of the charity and professional artists.
Browsing the gallery
The show explores the idea that by listening to the narratives of those who have been socially excluded, there will be less stereotyping of those who are on the streets.
One of the local artists that worked on the programme was Matt Small, 36. He said: “Knowing that that drugged-up piss-head is not really a drugged-up piss-head but someone who has battled through depression all his life, been abused as a kid and as an adult and has found coping with life just a little too much of a hard thing to do…It’s much easier for us to say ‘He’s just a drugged-up piss-head’”
The people whose stories it tells come from a range of different backgrounds and situations – alcoholism, drug abuse, mental health problems, crime and homelessness. A series of “If You Ask Me” interviews, accompanied by portraits by photographer Emma Davies, were carried out in the style of The Observer’s “This Much I Know” celebrity interviews. They work on the concept that these moving individual stories would never have been heard if they hadn’t been asked.
One of those interviewed is Sybil Adelaja, who contributed two self portraits to the exhibition. She hit her lowest point two years ago when her mother died. She said: “Art helps because I paint what I can see and it just calms me down. Instead of the voices talking to me, I can just draw and get across my feelings and my imagination. I’m proud of my art.”
Sybil Adelaja Eyes open - "Pippin". Eyes Closed- "Flip Soul"
Emma Davies first got involved with SHP two years ago. She said: “Whenever I photograph people, I generally try to stay open minded. Everyone has their own story to tell and I think it’s really admirable that so many members of SHP were willing to open up and share theirs.
“I also think that each story is equally important. Some members opened up about their past more than others.“I think SHP’s art group is so important for many reasons. Firstly it’s a great social meeting for the members. It’s also a great opportunity to learn new skills and experiment with different materials and mediums supported by professionals.”
Teddy Baden
Perhaps one of the most thought provoking pieces on display at the exhibition is “Communication” by Ammo. It is a table with three mannequin heads adorned with Islamic veils, alongside a spare veil for you to try on and a mirror to look at yourself in. You are then encouraged to write how it makes you feel and add a word to the scrabble board, which is, perhaps unsurprisingly, covered in words such as fear.
Ammo was inspired by Jack Straw when he said he was uncomfortable with women wearing veils visiting his surgeries. He then listened to a debate on the radio where George Galloway argued that people should be able to wear whatever they want.
Ammo said: “I thought I agreed with Galloway but I went out with a clipboard to see what came to me and it turned out it was more uncomfortable than I thought. Out of all the women I tried to talk to, only one would communicate with me.
“This really made me think about how people communicate nowadays. Sat on the bus the other day, the faces of young people light up when their mobile phone goes off, and then they slump again when they’ve hung up. People around me are speaking all different languages – Polish, Russian.
“I created my piece in response to this, I was inspired by you. I’m really interested in seeing how people feel about how people communicate and to highlight social exclusion.
“I’m not going to visit the exhibition while it is running but am looking forward to reading the responses at the end.”
SHP’s Information Officer Heather Atkin says that the work on display at the exhibition is around a 50/50 split between that of professionals and SHP clients.
She said: “All of the professional artists whose work is included have volunteered their time during our Thursday Art Workshop. They demonstrated the techniques they commonly use in their art in order to facilitate our clients to create their own unique pieces.”
SHP runs a variety of Art Programmes throughout London, including in Islington, which include mediums as diverse as film, craft and urban art. They are aimed to help clients to grow in confidence and reduce their isolation through social networking. These arts projects are also very helpful in assisting some clients take their first steps towards a formal career path.
Untold Stories is on show from 1 – 22 July 2011 at the Together Our Space Gallery, 12 Old Street, London, EC1V 9BE
For more information visit http://www.shp.org.uk/
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