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In Translation groups visit Barrow and the Lake District

Wendy — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:51:00 +0000

Barrow and the Cumbrian lakes were invaded on Saturday 27th April by a lively and colourful group of women from Manchester. The visitors represented countries as widespread as China, Peru, Brazil, Poland, Czech R, Lithuania and the war torn countries of Bhutan and Somalia.

The event was a celebration of the friendships which have been forged through the activities and public events which have been a feature of the in Translation project.

Following a visit to Bowness, the group arrived at Forum 28 in Barrow in Furness to see the outreach In Translation exhibition which focuses on the workshops and activities shared by the participants during the eighteen months of the project. Home made cakes from a variety cultures, were shared at the tea party hosted by Cumbria Multicultural Women’s Network (CMWN).

Sincere thanks to Lisa Mok and Wai Yin who ensured the success of the event by organising the groups in Manchester so efficiently and to such good ends
- to all the members of CMWN who made the delicious cakes and whose warmth and friendship made it such a special day
- to Sol Diaz, whose help in preparing the Multicultural Forum rooms enabled us to give a great welcome to our guests.

Check the Flikr photostream to see more images.

My Chinatown Arts Exhibition

Wendy — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:19:06 +0000

An exhibition which aims to promote recognition of London Chinatown’s development from its humble origins to the present day, is on display at Westminster Reference Library - 16th - 27th April .

The art work was created and inspired by life stories of interviewees during the London Chinatown Oral History Project.

Artists, Mei Yuk Wong, Keng Ho Fong, Asaki Kan, Man Fai Ma and Ian Vines, have also reflected upon their own experiences of London Chinatown and represented various forms of Chinese culture and history in their artwork.

Contributing artist Mei Yuk Wong, is a participant and assistant project manager for the In Translation project which continues with the national exhibition In Translation: Women, Migration and Britishness at Manchester Art Gallery until May 2013.

A new exhibition, which highlights the experience of the women who participated in the In Translation project is showing until end of April at Forum 28, Duke Street, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria.

For more information on The London Chinatown Oral History Project, contact:
Rebecca Long 07841 500 606 rebecca@cmha.org.uk

Other Links:

Migratory Dreams
‘Is this a performance, an exhibition, a show or a picnic?’ and ‘What is this about?’ were some of the initial questions from visitors to the exhibition ‘Migratory Dreams’, which despite the cold, brought around 50 people from all over the world to Furtherfield Gallery in Finsbury Park, London on 2 March 2013.

In Translation goes to Cumbria.

Wendy — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:31:24 +0000

The travelling exhibition of In Translation is now on show at Forum 28, Duke Street, Barrow in Furness. Exhibition is open 9 am to late evening every day.

This exhibition focuses on the process of the In Translation project. All aspects of the current national exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery are featured, but the interactions and experiences of the participants from the three women’s groups are highlighted to tell the narrative of the project from the women’s point of view.

Four large printed panels depict the experiences of the groups as they engage with the project activities. Highlights include drawings, sculptures and life drawings, the secrets of the perfect Victoria sandwich cake and interactions with members of the public in events at the gallery over the past year.

Celebrations on November 1st 2012

Wendy — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:59:32 +0000

Emanuela Yogolelo photo by: Alva Chester

Everyone enjoyed the celebratory event that took place on November 1st at Manchester Art Gallery when participants and many of those who took part in the project were joined by family and friends for an evening of live music from Musicians without Borders. The wonderful voice of Emanuela Yogolelo soared up into the atrium, drawing members of the public from the galleries to join us at the tea party.

Musicians without Borders sang and played songs from the Balkans and Africa. Photo Alva Chester

Events included traditional tea sharing ceremonies from South America and China (by Sol, from Argentina and Kitty, from China).

Sol demonstrating traditional Argentinian tea sharing ritual, Yerba Mate. Photo; Alva Chester

Kitty shows how to serve tea at the Chinese tea ceremony. Photo; Alva Chester

Children and other audience members were encouraged to join in when members of Europia performed ‘The River’, a traditional circle dance from Poland. Photo: Alva Chester

Professional baker Glynis Davies demonstrated the method of making the traditional EnglishVictoria Sponge Sandwich cake for the celebration audience. Glynis was repeating her role from the project workshops, (below) when, in response to a request from young Chinese members of Wai Yin, she taught the art of the traditional English sponge cake.

Wai Yin sunshine group working with Glynis Davies. Photo: Julie Fu

Artist Julie Mosley offered another level of interest when she provided a special geographical paper cutting game as table top decoration; and created these map cakes for the occasion.

Paper cakes by Julie Mosley. Photos: The artist

Join the celebrations!

Wendy — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:51:41 +0000

Join the party to celebrate our ‘In Translation’ Project.

You are invited to join us at the party to celebrate the project and In Translation exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery on 1st November.

The celebration will take place in the atrium area of Manchester Art Gallery from 6pm to 9pm.

The event will include a tea party when members of the three participating cultural groups will share tea making ceremonies and examples of cake making from Chinese and British heritage. The Europia group will entertain with a traditional Polish performance in medieval costume.

Members of Musicians without Borders’ whose logo is ‘War divides; Music Connects’ will take part in the celebrations. There will be live music and ambient background tapes to include the music of all the cultures taking part in the project.

Request for recipes: If you have a favourite recipe for cakes, please send it in to us so that we can print off a recipe leaflet for people to take home and explore. You can add your recipe to the comments section of this blog, or to Comments at the bottom of our dedicated blog, ‘Favourite Cakes around the World- start Here’,

Image below: Learning to make Victoria sandwich cakes in a project workshop. Photo: Julie Fu

Imagine

Wendy — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:13:54 +0000

Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th July – Imagine – Public event in the gallery

Members of the public, including a large group of Malaysian families who live in Manchester, joined in the family workshop. The workshops were facilitated by participants from the three women’s groups who worked on the In Translation project, CMWN, Europia, and Wai Yin. During the afternoon, Ruth Edson, Community development Manager at the Gallery, initiated discussions on the theme of migration in the Gallery. The main features on both days took the form of drawing workshops with artist Chiz Turnross.

Father and son making art together in the In Translation gallery.

Photos: Wendy Rowe

See more images of the event on Flikr.

‘Diversity’ and Multicultural Arts policies

Wendy — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:58:16 +0000

Within this website, we represent the achievements of In Translation, both as a project and as an exhibition. The high profile of the exhibition offers us many opportunities over the coming year to raise some of the issues that stifle marginalised voices. This Post offers a platform for discussion about such issues.

You are welcome to offer your comments or suggest posts from other sources, such as the article below, published in the Guardian Theatre blog in 2008

Robert Mountford and Caroline Kilpatrick in The Tempest by Tara Arts, who receive Arts Council funding. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

How have things changed since Parv Bancil posted this in 2008?

I recently spoke to a young British Muslim playwright about the attention he was suddenly getting from a few mainstream theatres and TV companies. He is one of many plucked from the north of England via numerous schemes designed to “discover British Muslim voices”, and he’s in two minds about the belated interest in what he may have to say. On one hand, he is grateful for the opportunities presented to him; on the other, he is concerned about the type of stories he is asked to develop for commissioning editors and artistic directors. He told me that he wants to write stories about love and relationships. Instead, he has been “encouraged” to write stories about being a British Muslim, full of angst in a post-7/7 Britain.

So what should he do? Does he stand his ground and refuse the commission? He believes, as a matter of principle, that he probably should. However, he is painfully aware that if he steps down, another writer will quickly step in to replace him. So he takes the commission and justifies his decision by telling himself it’s a stepping stone towards the things he really wants to do.

As a second-generation British Asian involved in the arts, I certainly benefited from multicultural arts policy in the mid-1980s. Back then, support from the Greater London council (GLC) allowed us to exist as theatre-makers in a world which, in the main, shunned us. But very quickly, I felt that I became a victim of multiculturalism. It seemed to be a double-edged sword – multicultural policy suited those who were happy to stay within the boundaries of “their own culture”; it seemed better to segregate in order to secure arts funding.

I first became aware of this in 1986. I wrote my first play for the Hounslow Arts Cooperative theatre and the company was in the process of receiving transitional funding from Hounslow council. The opening night was attended by councillors and the mayor of Hounslow, who seemed very supportive of new, multicultural theatre. I remember that some of the councillor’s wives even wore saris; I think they wanted us to feel at home.

We were told afterwards that they had expected to see a spot of Kathak dancing and traditional south-Asian costume. Instead, they watched a play about three disaffected British Asian boys looking for a way out of a dead-end town. The characters spoke like me and my friends: a concoction of cockney slang, Jamaican patois and Punjabi. Like most kids from that part of the world, they swore, smoked cigarettes and played hip-hop. By the interval, most of the councillors and the mayor left in disgust; we received a letter from them, complaining that “we had let our parents and our culture down”.

Many writers and producers like me want to share their stories with mainstream audiences. Is it possible that enforcing multicultural policies – conventionally accepted as being progressive and liberal – could actually make this more difficult?

If we are working towards a more integrated arts landscape, multicultural arts policies belong in the last century. Now, they only serve to keep black and Asian arts ghettoised and, ultimately, to keep ethnic minority practitioners out of the mainstream. The consequence is that over the past five or six years, black and Asian theatre is rapidly losing its voice. In the scramble to decipher what commissioning editors or artistic directors might want, theatre-makers and artists are increasingly conforming to the tick-box culture of “diversity” arts policy; they fear being replaced if they do not fit the remit.

Art Bites – ‘Empire’

Wendy — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:49:53 +0000

Photo: Ruth Edson

Empire:

I’ve been watching Jeremy Paxman’s Empire series on the BBC over the past few weeks. In translation has been exploring the legacy of the British Empire with a focus on the lives of migrant women living in the UK.

I thought Paxman’s closing words fitted well with the ethos of In Translation and why it was important for the gallery to get some of the posters out from the stores.

Paxman said ‘For good or ill, much of the world is as it is today because of the empire. From the way it looks, to the sports people play, from the religions they practice, to the language they speak. It has changed the very genetic make up of Britain, if we can only look at it clear eyed, it can tell us a lot about who we are. It’s a story that belongs to all of us. We’ve been through pride, through shame, mostly nowadays denial, but if we are really to understand Britain today, it’s time to stop pretending the empire was nothing to do with us’.

Joanna Login (Europia) and myself led an Art Bites discussion in the gallery a couple of weeks ago. Art Bites is a weekly 30 minute discussion slot led by volunteers or gallery staff. Each Art Bites highlights two artworks on display. Because Art Bites doesn’t advertise which art works have been selected, you get a mixed group of people who come with an open mind. So it was great to discuss the In Translation exhibition with a general group of visitors. Joanna spoke very well about her experience of migrating to the UK and the reasons why the Europia group chose some of the posters and created their responses.

Art Bites takes place every Wednesday from 12.30 – 1 p.m. The gallery would welcome other members of the groups to join us to facilitate another Art Bites looking at the migratory birds or the Victoria Sponge posters.

Ruth Edson
Community Programmes Manager
Manchester Art Gallery

View panel discussion with Dr Melanie Horton

Participants interpret the Empire Board posters

Visit to Manchester City Galleries archive and restoration centre

Wendy — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:22:56 +0000

To understand the concerns of the conservators and to see the restoration of some of the posters they had chosen to show in the exhibition, participants of the In Translation project visited Manchester City Galleries conservation studios.

Claire Grundy (Works on Paper Conservator)

“The EMB posters were printed on very thin paper that had been creased and slightly torn at the edges. I used long fibred Japanese papers of similar weight to the original poster paper with thin wheat starch paste. Once the poster was on the suction table and pressure was applied, the artwork was held securely, and could be repaired following the grain direction of the original. The suction was left constant until the repairs were fully dry so that there was no undulation across the sheet and the poster remained flat.

In terms of framing and display I wanted to give the impression that the posters were ‘floating’ in the frames, with the edges still visible. A traditional over mount would have hidden the edges, and since these posters were seen as immediate objects rather than Gallery Artworks, I wanted to replicate the ephemeral message as far as possible. I decided on a stamp hinge style with Japanese Kozo paper, which allowed the poster to be secured to a backboard, but would be invisible. The mounted items were then framed with an unobtrusive simple beech frame moulding.

I’m glad the posters have been well received, and would love to work on more of the collection in the future.” Claire Grundy

Photo credits:
Salam Burrows / Mei Yuk Wong / Marzena Spiewok/ Claire Grundy

Learn more about the artists who painted the Empire Board posters in the 1920′ & 30′s

Away from Home

Wendy — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 23:53:49 +0000



Women's experience of migration... 

Jo Ann from Philippines and Liliana from Romania talk about
their experience. How has migration affected their ability
to bring up their children; their children's relationships
with those back home.  And where is Home?