20th June 2024
HOME OFFICE CONTINGENCY HOTEL, BRISTOL
World Refugee Day fell upon the summer solstice and marked the second of three workshops in collaboration with Caravan Arts, where we were warmly welcomed by staff and were able to use the strong rays of the sun to create cyanotypes, using letters to show people’s initials and plants for decoration. Everyone was delighted by the magic of their images appearing as the exposed paper was immersed in the trays of water. A number of people took their cyanotypes away to decorate their rooms.
Since our last session, the sun had also helped to grow some of the seeds planted in little pots placed on the windowsills inside families’ rooms and several of the residents delighted in bringing the pots back to us to show the new shoots, while others shared photos that they had taken on their phones.
In the shade, inside the caravan a little boy sat confidently at the 1960s typewriter, with such familiarity it appeared as if he used it every day. His lines often started somewhere in the middle of the page, making their way to the right giving the jumble of letters the appearance from afar of Arabic script. His confidence caught the attention of a little girl, and so the second typewriter was brought to the table, first for her to practice her writing skills but this soon gave way to pure enjoyment in the embodied experience of the typewriter’s sound and physicality.
Everyone is welcome to join us @bristolrefugeefestival ‘s Celebrating Sanctuary event in Queen Square, BS1 4QP on Sunday 23rd June 12.30-6.00pm, look out for the caravan!
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