Anisha Parmar is jewellery designer, artist, curator and project producer. “My work focuses on my own lived experience of the South Asian Diaspora, reflecting on my family’s migrant journey from India- East Africa and then the UK.” Her recent work has been focusing on the material culture of adornment as a powerful tool to unlock untold histories and stories. Her works takes threads from the rich tapestry of South Asian culture, viewed through the Diaspora lens, where the pieces she creates aim to blend traditional influences with trailblazing contemporary design.

Workshop - Anisha is seeking to open a dialogue and document conversations with South Asian women from Derby, and who have collected or been handed down, precious pieces of jewellery/adornment and clothing, to talk about what these pieces represent to them. Through a series of creative workshops we will be documenting your memories of adornment through material play and collage as a way to tell your story creatively and to be embedded in the legacy of project. Bring your old photos, pieces of clothing you hold dear and an open mind and heart to share your stories in a collective safe space.

About Ismail

“I am a British-Bangladeshi, socially-engaged visual artist based in Nottingham. My work explores identity, migration, heritage, displacement, health and environmentalism. My exploration of these topics are underpinned by my desire to communicate human conditions to an audience who may resonate with the work, see themselves reflected in it, or even provide a gateway to experience a narrative which is unfamiliar. I utilise a wide variety of media to communicate my ideas which includes: painting, photography, sculpture, installation, poetry, video and design. “

Workshop Theme : Fabrics for Freedom

Ismail will be leading participants in a series of workshops examining the region’s connections to industry, cloth-making, slavery and everyday life. The collage workshops will include textile embellishment, photomontage and storytelling through mother tongue. The series of creative workshops will focus on the Swadeshi movement in India and the wider history of Muslin fabrics and golden fibre of Bangladesh. The workshops will help foster deeper connections to the participants' roots and memories.

Khadi and Beyond

The spinning wheel (Charkha) was at one time the symbol of India’s poverty and backwardness. The Swadeshi Movement turned it into a symbol of nationalism, equality and self-reliance. Participants will find out how Charkha became a symbol of patriotism through a series of creative workshops at Artcore gallery.

Jennie Parry, well known as an embroiderer for many years, is an enthusiastic braid maker and founder member of the Braid Society.

Jennie is the current President of The Braid Society, and President of the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers. She enjoys sharing her collection of ethnic textiles as a study resource and as inspiration. Much as she enjoys ply split structures, Inkle weaving and Chinese minority braids, her real passion is for Kumihimo made on Marudai, Kakudai, Ayatakedai, Karakumidai, and Takadai of which she has four. Its versatility and potential for innovative oblique interlaced structures continues to stimulate her work.

She will be supporting Rachel with the specific braiding techniques of Kumihimo to be used in this project with professional advice and assisting with the community master classes.

Tricia Gardiner is co- founder and director of Sugar Stealers CIC which was formed in 2019 with an aim to provide opportunities for individuals and community groups from the East Midlands area who have an interest in finding safe community spaces within which they are free to express themselves and explore their creative talents through multi disciplinary arts; in particular (but not solely) women, LGBTQ and BAME groups who may struggle with social isolation or deprivation and would benefit from being amongst an inclusive community of like minded individuals who use the arts as a means of self expression. 

Sugar Stealers are women from local areas such as St Annes, Sneinton and Forest Fields.  Check out their work in our podcast and image library.

Tricia Gardiner is a community consultant & Creative Producer. Trained in Textiles design, Tricia has worked as a Teacher, Interior Designer and Programme Co-ordinator for Art & Design, Media and Performing Arts. 

Lisa Jackson, a cherished artist based in Nottingham and recognised by the moniker mon0lisa, exemplifies remarkable versatility throughout her extensive artistic journey, which spans across various mediums including collecting stories, voice work, audio capture, theatre, method acting, playwrighting, and filmmaking.

Engaging in collaborative endeavours such as "Legacy Makers" and "Standing in This Place," Jackson collaborates to capture and amplify the voices of participants. She has notably contributed to the development and production of a documentary-style film for the Legacy Makers project, offering a poignant portrayal of the journey, learning, and creative outputs of volunteer researchers. This film highlights their invaluable contributions to their communities and aims to shed light on the historical significance of African ancestors in the UK's transatlantic cotton trade, ensuring that heritage sites originating from this era acknowledge their contributions.

In the "Standing in This Place" project, Jackson's involvement extends to the co-creation of innovative outputs like the Talking Postcards. These postcards serve as a distinctive avenue for sharing stories, enabling participants to record personal anecdotes and memories associated with the statue crafted by Sculptor Rachel Carter, with insights from the Legacy Makers Group. This statue symbolizes resilience across the transatlantic cotton trail and serves as a poignant reminder of interconnected narratives.

Jackson's collaborative approach ensures the representation of diverse voices, making her art accessible to a broad audience. In a landscape where storytelling holds paramount importance, Lisa Jackson emerges as a trailblazer, amplifying voices, and fostering empathy and understanding through her art. Her venture into filmmaking with the Legacy Makers project further underscores her commitment to preserving and sharing narratives that resonate deeply within communities.

https://www.mon0lisa.com/

Rachael is a trained broadcast journalist with a passion for visual storytelling. Starting in community radio as a teenager, Rachael quickly found her talent for interviewing and reporting. Half a decade later, fully immersed in the local media scene, Rachael gained a first-class degree in broadcast journalism from Nottingham Trent University. 

Following graduation, she started working as a full-time senior reporter and producer for the local TV channel Notts TV. Having gained incredible experience and contacts, Rachael took the plunge to go freelance, working as a BBC reporter and launching her own production company, Jamshot Studios. She has created documentaries, music videos, press shots, content for musicians, and much more.

Flying solo, Rachael has worked alongside companies such as Sony, EMI, Universal, RCA and Arts Council England. 

Within the Standing in This Place project, Rachael created two short films, documenting the process of the sculpture's creation with Rachel Carter, The Legacy Makers' journey and the history behind the project. The films offer an insight into the what, why and how of Standing in This Place.

https://rachaelhalaburda.com

Lamar explains “Photography for me is something I consider both an art and a science, with me develop my craft as a self-taught photographer during my time at the University of Nottingham studying a degree in Mathematical Physics.” Since graduation in 2012 Lamar has worked as a commercial photographer, with the help of The Princes’ Trust, specialising in telling the stories of creative people and organisations candidly, interpreting and documenting architectural projects.

He has worked with organisations including: City Arts Nottingham, Nottingham Playhouse, First Art , New Arts Exchange, and UK New Artists.

Lamar adds “working within projects such as Standing In this Place allows me to be able to bring both interests to the fore. First by being able to create a series of documentary photographs as Rachel works with her team to produce sculptures through candid storytelling, and by being able to interpret the final sculpture and showcase this in the exhibition.”

With a 10 year background in music focused visual work, film maker Fred Glenister has been documenting publicly funded arts and community projects in the Nottingham area since 2018, and is frequently involved in mentoring young people in music video creation and documentary videography.

Beginning in  2019 he has worked closely with sculptor and artist Rachel Carter, documenting the progress of her “Pilgrim Woman” project - which has resulted in four short films that have been included in her exhibition at The Collection Museum, Lincoln, which opened Nov 2021.

Fred’s film-making is tailored to provide publicly funded practitioners with compelling stories that can be used not only to evidence their projects for funders, but also support further funding bids, promote their work across new, traditional and social media and help raise awareness of, engagement with and participation in the arts. Fred will document the various stages of the project in present this in a short film that will be showcased in the exhibition and can be used to support future activities.

Ebony Reels is all about bringing people together for a lively, community-focused cinema experience. Rather than relying on social media, this initiative spreads the word through 'good conversations', making sure everyone, especially older community members, feels included. Each event has a lively theme, and guests are encouraged to dress up, adding to the festive vibe.

One of the best parts? The photo booth that captures the joyful moments, contributing to a special archive celebrating  togetherness and  joy! Ebony Reels focuses on films by Black filmmakers, featuring Black characters that  highlight Black creativity.

In a world where movies are often just a quick escape, Ebony Reels aims to create memorable experiences that bring people closer. We foster community bonds and aim to be a meetup space for the Black community, enjoying great films and celebrating together.

Writing East Midlands is the writer development agency for this region. They support writers of all ages, stages and abilities and work with a range of educational, cultural, and health partners, to deliver creative writing activities in schools, community groups, museums, libraries, theatres, prisons, and care homes, to name but a few. They bring people together through a shared love of writing, this can lead to positive health and social outcomes as well as creative careers.

Education Manager, Sian Tower works with children and young people through an annual programme of young writers’ groups, community and school projects, and supports the careers of emerging writers through training and work experience.

IPTTIP Tamika Steadman is a Poet, Actress, Host and Mentor. CEO of her brand 1.Put. The. T.In. Poetry her work includes themes such as Race. Feminism. Culture and Mental Health. Tamika has performed around the UK on stages such as The Commonwealth Games 2022. Her work has been featured on multiple BBC platforms, Mojatu & No Taboo magazine and throughout the Black lives matter movement. Tamika also creates events and leads workshops in various care and school settings that aim to inspire poetry and creative writing.

Quinton Green is a writer, performer and poet, and his work and his work has been used by police forces, schools and councils as part of youth awareness initiatives across the UK. His work has also been published by UNICEF. Quinton has been a freelance presenter for BBC Radio Northampton, and is a leading voice in the fight against serious youth violence. He attends schools and youth organisations nationwide as part of his Knife Crime Victim Support charitable initiative, and is a lead writer on wider creative projects for Writing East Midlands.

New Art Exchange, Nottingham - Manya Benenson, Talent Development Producer

Manya co-creates theatre and cross art form opportunities with young people about the issues and things that matter to them. There will be an open call out and participants from the YARD young people’s theatre programme (12-18 years - 12 members) and Younique Producers programme will be asked if they want to be involved.

New Art Exchange (NAE) is a ground-breaking, award-winning and internationally recognised creative space in the heart of Hyson Green, Nottingham. We are dedicated to promoting excellence in culturally diverse contemporary arts through our exhibitions, events and engagement initiatives.

City Arts, Nottingham - Alma Solarte-Tobon, Creative Producer

For the last 18 years, Alma has worked in the community arts sector, implementing projects focused on wellbeing and artistic development. She makes sure young people’s voices are at the heart of her work.

At City Arts in Nottingham, she founded the Express Yourself project (13-17 yr olds experiencing mental health issues), Young Producers group (18-30 yr olds open to new emerging creatives), a monthly art club (13- 17 yr olds experiencing loneliness) and the charity’s first Youth Panel (14- 25yr olds). Her work has included Erasmus+ funded international projects. She has run large scale arts events and organised public art commissions, consulting with artists, partner organisations and communities.

Pangolin Editions was started in 1985 by Rungwe Kingdon and Claude Koenig in a ramshackle greenhouse in an Oxfordshire country garden. The foundry grew rapidly from its modest beginnings and in early 1988 sought new premises in Chalford’s Golden Valley on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment.

In 1991, the demand from artists for casting larger works led to further expansion in order to accommodate sand-casting alongside the more traditional lost wax facilities. The following decades saw continuing research into casting techniques and the foundry can now select from six different methods in order to achieve the best result for each sculpture.

Pangolin undoubtedly owes its success of the past three decades to working with some of the foremost artists of the late 20th and 21st century and strives to attract the growing number of contemporary artists who choose to explore the creative use of bronze as a medium. Through collaborative partnerships with sculptors it actively explores and innovates across the field of art casting. The most recent advances have been in the realm of digital technology, virtual reality and 3-D printing, which now has its own studio dedicated to the origination of artworks.

Adrian Hazzard and Laurence Cliffe, Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham

The Mixed Reality Lab (MRL) at the University of Nottingham creates interactive technologies to enhance everyday life, focusing on how the physical and digital can be interleaved to deliver compelling experiences. The lab has a twenty year history of collaborating with artists to help deliver interactive works in galleries, museums, at festivals and on the city streets, leading to the award of the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica for Interactive Art and multiple BAFTA nominations. The lab of part of the LEADD:NG programme which is supporting creative companies in using immersive technologies throughout Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Its role in this project will be to enable the development of an audio augmented reality experience of sculpture.

The MRL will support two of its expert researchers, Adrian Hazzard and Laurence Cliffe, to work with Rachel on the project to scope out the possibilities for the augmented reality audio experience and help develop the interactive experience. This will begin with ideation workshops and low-fidelity prototyping workshops to establish the overall design before moving into audio content and/or software development. It is hoped that the results of this new collaboration could be installed alongside the sculpture.

Over the past 30 years Steve Russell Studios have built an enviable reputation as the photographers of choice to many of the most celebrated contemporary artists and galleries in the UK and internationally. This success has given us the opportunity to invest in the latest equipment and to develop new techniques for producing the remarkable and creative imagery for which we are renowned. We shoot for artists, museums, galleries, magazines, publishers, art projects, installations and private and commercial clients. 

Based near Stroud in Gloucestershire, we have a small but expert team offering a comprehensive and inclusive range of photographic, design and output services. Our 3500 sq ft studio is fitted with a roller shutter door for easy access to large artworks and a 3m turntable capable of bearing weights of up to 4 tonnes. We use state-of-the-art Hasselblad and Canon cameras, Bowens electronic flash and Phocus and Adobe software. 

Pangolin Editions and Steve Russel studios have enjoyed a twenty year relationship. Collaborating and working together to share skills to help create the best possible outcome for sculptural projects, supporting and working with range of artists.

Panya Banjoko is a UK based poet and PhD Researcher at Nottingham Trent University. Her debut collection, Some Things, was published by Burning Eye Books (2018) and her forthcoming collection (Re)Framing the Archive is slated for June 2022.

Her poems feature in numerous anthologies and exhibitions including the Beaconsfield Gallery in London, the British Film Festival, and International Film Festival in Rotterdam. Panya is a multi-award-winning poet and is patron for Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature.

Deborah Tyler-Bennett is a European poet, visual artist and fiction writer.  She is descended from a host of hosiery and textile workers, and Nottinghamshire miners. 

In 2022 her new chapbook, Servants and Labourers, came out as accompaniment to the Labours Lost exhibition at Nanpantan Hall, which also included a film of her reading the poems by Pudding Bag Productions.  She has eight books of poetry, and three of prose published by various publishers including Smokestack and Shoestring. 

Supported by Writing East Midlands, we had an open call to commission a lead and a supporting writer/poet to work with the community to help them give voice to their stories and those of their ancestors working in the textile trade.