13.02.25
In mid February, we took 5 men from Wethersfield Asylum Centre to @gainsboroughshouse for a printmaking workshop. The men, from Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Sudan, had shown particular interest in artmaking over the weeks, & local volunteer Tim joined us. Waiting by the main gate for the taxi, fencing & grey buildings beyond, a robin sang out clearly.
On arrival, we were shown to our cafe table for lunch. Our photos of everyday world scenes, alongside coffee, broke the air of apprehension as each of us shared associations & memories of place. In @gh_printworkshop, technician Frin gave us aprons, and showed examples of drypoint etchings & how to scratch designs onto acrylic sheets. We were then invited to find our own space in the studio to trace our chosen image.
One young man traced a photo of his girlfriend from his phone screen, following her face’s lines & contours with sensitivity & precision. Another found a quiet space, finding absorption in tracing Lubaina Himid’s painting of people in a room with a sea-view. Alongside the distinctive sound of tools working, the calming rhythms of Sudanese songs from his phone connected across the studio & there was a long period without talking.
Next, we were shown how to ink up plates, a clear image revealed as thick ink is buffed away. We then gathered around the press as paper beneath rollers was lifted to reveal each print - the process repeated, experiments with density, colour; noticing, refining. One man who had joined our December walk traced over his own photo of Finchingfield village from that day, smiling as he inspected his sepia-toned prints. In the final minutes, two men worked together to create the Sudanese flag from coloured tissue-paper soaked with glue & water, managing to pass their work through the press, producing a small yet potent final print, perhaps a shared need to express their cultural identity.
We thought about space being chosen today, in contrast to communal camp life. As we drove back, one man told us news of his imminent departure to a shared housed in north England. ‘From the camp I will only miss my friends, & you.’
Words by Raman Feiz & Thomas Etheridge.
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