University partners with Leicester Cathedral for startling artwork exhibition
Leicester Cathedral, supported by the University, is to host a startling and internationally-acclaimed artwork on show, free of charge between 20 June and 28 August 2018.
The show will be exhibited from Refugee Week, through the Cathedral’s ‘Conversations’ season until Leicester’s ArtReach-led Journeys Festival International. Composed of hundreds of items of clothing discarded by refugees upon their arrival on the island of Lesbos, a ‘stilled explosion’ will be created over the Cathedral nave, inviting the viewer to contemplate the violent fragmentation experienced by the inhabitants of the garments.
Suspended will be the centrepiece of a unique summer of events, which it hopes will help people grasp the experience of real refugees and promote empathy for those individuals.
An interactive wall of clothing and shoes salvaged from Lesbos and Calais will also be in place with an invitation to touch and handle the clothes, and to imagine the lives of the individual men, women and children who have worn them as they risk everything to escape the violence of their homeland.
Phil Horspool, from the University’s English Language Teaching Unit and Chair of the University of Sanctuary steering group said: “The University of Leicester is delighted to contribute to bringing this exhibit to the city. We will be actively contributing to raising awareness of the plight of refugees through the organisation of various events across the summer. We are committed to becoming a University that welcomes refugees and asylum seekers and increasing the opportunities for them to participate in and contribute to our community.”
A full programme of events, co-ordinated by ArtReach, will include family art sessions, performances, a film screening, theatre arts and creative writing workshops, refugee-led coffee shop conversations, talks, seminars, and volunteer taster sessions. Full details will be listed on the Cathedral website http://leicestercathedral.org/ in the coming weeks.
Suspended, In Search of Light – An Artist’s Journey by Arabella Dorman July 4th 18:30-20:00. Tickets £15. Booking via Eventbrite here.
The Cathedral’s partners and funders – ArtReach with Arts Council England, De Montfort University, the University of Leicester, Leicester City of Sanctuary and the British Red Cross – are committed to support, promote and celebrate activity that shares refugee experience.