Discovered Stories, Shared Communities
Follow this link to visit our online exhibition – an artsite with work from community members across Cumbria. The site contains visual and written artworks, videos, images and reflections for all who wish to engage with concepts of belonging, home, diversity and inclusion. It has been beautifully curated by Jessica El Mal and can provide a rich resource for your lessons.
The online exhibition was created as part of Discovered Stories, Shared Communities. The project has been a two year enquiry into emergent collective leadership and participatory community practices and the impact they can have on making communities more welcoming and resilient.
This project was made possible because of the collaboration between local community organisations, groups and individuals interested in supporting meaningful, positive changes in their communities. Our aim was to bring together those with a shared sense of purpose around the need to build communities where everyone feels they are safe, connected, and have the collective capacity to cope with the pressures of our times. The dramatic changes forced upon us all by our individual and shared experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic informed both the form and the content of the project; and, as we shared our stories, we realised that we need welcome and resilient communities now more than ever.
Follow this link for more information about DSSC and links to other project resources.
DSSC was made possible with funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.
Hidden Stories Shared Lives exhibition
Loan our Hidden Stories exhibition and gain an insight into the journeys and challenges of those who now live in Cumbria but were born outside the county.
The exhibition stems from an oral history project (find out more at www.hidden-stories.co.uk) that looked at migration to Cumbria. It explores the stories and reasons that led people to leave their places of birth and arrive here, how their outlook has been shaped by their own personal stories and how we are all diverse, strong individuals.
The five information boards are accompanied by audio clips of some of these interviews on CDs. The Everyday Lives part of the exhibition delves into how some of those interviewed relate both to their country of birth and their new home in their daily lives.
Please get in touch with us if you would like to loan either part of the exhibition.