Home has brought people together through a number of workshops focusing on creativity to produce works with a focus on home and what it means.
The exhibition will show pieces produced by textile artist Anna Ray who has been working with a group of mothers in Ashford, including recently resettled Syrian women.
Maysa has four children. She left Syria six years ago and moved to Lebanon, where she stayed with her family for four and half years. She then moved to Ashford through the UNHCR (the United Nations Refugee Agency) in the hope that her children would be able to continue their studies in school. She’s hoping one day to return to Syria, where her parents and sisters still live.
She said: “The future for me is seeing my family happy, my kids happy - and I am happy here, but I’m hoping one day in the future to go back to Syria.”
Being part of the Home project has, for her, been very powerful and given her the feeling of building ‘family’ here in Ashford. She said: “I really enjoyed the project and it does remind me a lot of Syria and my family, my sisters and loads of things we used to do together. It does remind me of home a lot.”
The Home project was made possible by ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½Ò•îl, People United and Ashford Borough Council. It has been funded by The Arts Council England.
The exhibition opens on Saturday 24 November at Unit 113, County Square Shopping Centre, Ashford, TN23 1YB.
Saturday 24 November: 1pm – 4pm
Sunday 25 November: 11am – 4pm
Saturday 1 December: 11am – 4pm
Sunday 2 December: 11am – 4pm
Notes
The weekly workshops have been taking place at Concept Training in Ashford, with the support of Ashford Borough Council. Artist Anna Ray has been leading these creative sessions, which has allowed the group to explore different art forms including painting, drawing, stamping and embroidery.
Anna Ray studied BA (Hons) and MFA Tapestry at Edinburgh College of Art between 1994 and 1999. She has been granted major awards for her work such as the Edinburgh Visual Arts and Crafts Award (2006), Scottish Arts Council Crafts Creative Development Award (2004) and the Scottish Arts Council Assistance Grant to an Individual Artist (2003). Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally over the last twenty years in both applied art and fine art contexts. In 2015-2016 she was artist in residence for The RHS Chelsea Flower Show and she recently exhibited in the high profile exhibition ‘Entangled: Threads & Making’ curated by Karen Wright at Turner Contemporary in Margate.
For more information, contact Nadine Miller via email or on 07850 774620.