‘A total work of art is only possible in the context of the whole of society. Everyone will be a necessary co-creator of a social architecture, and so long as anyone cannot participate, the ideal form of democracy has not been reached. Whether people are artists, assemblers of machines or nurses, it is a matter of participating in the whole.’ Joseph Beuys
As well as working with vulnerable groups in the community (see also ‘Engagement’) one of the main themes of Jo’s practice is in connecting people together cross-culturally and finding commonalities as well as celebrating difference by:
• discovering more about the history of the geographical area to which they all now belong
• through sharing stories of their own family/cultural history and how it led them to live where they do today
• through connection with their local natural environment
• retelling stories and creating new ones
• mapping change and the part they have played in it.
Bristol Refugee Festival June 21 – St Anne’s, Brislington. Now an ongoing group who still connect regualarly.
Image: When I Was Your Age, North Devon Moving Image, Fullabrook Community Fund
An example of Jo’s work with multi-generational groups was a two part series of workshops that she facilitated for North Devon Moving Image. These sessions and other short stories from local people have been filmed and archived for the benefit of future generations. The series, When I Was Your Age, was run by NDMA in partnership with Braunton Museum funded by Fullabrook CIC.
http://www.northdevonmovingimage.org.uk/when-i-was-your-age-braunton.html
Image: When I Was Your Age, North Devon Moving Image, Fullabrook Community Fund
Image: When I Was Your Age, North Devon Moving Image, Fullabrook Community Fund