In the Spring of 2019, a group of mothers and female carers at my children’s primary school in West London meet weekly with the intention of making an artwork about our shared experience of the school gate. In the end we chose not to make a single work to commemorate our encounters, but instead honoured our lively discussions as they happened, with all the laughter and confessions, songs and tears, silences and acts of listening that they entailed. Hailing from fourteen different countries, with different cultural beliefs, world-views and family values, we found common ground while celebrating what made us distinct.

 

I have since written about this experience in a chapter called 'Conversations Between Borders: Cyclical Thinking and Alternative Worlds' which will appear in the forthcoming book Socially Engaged Creative Practice: Contemporary Case Studies edited by Kate Aughterson and Jess Moriarty (Intellect, 2023)