The Heritage Project Workshops
The Heritage Project Workshops
Thanks to the National Lottery Players
18th August
Women In Prison: The Beth Centre in Stockwell
We visited the Women in Prison Hub, The Beth Centre in Stockwell. Some of the women from Hibiscus, trained in storytelling over the course of the Heritage Project, shared personal stories regarding their lived experience of the immigration and criminal justice system. Afterwards, the jewellery making facilitator Caroline Dodd showed the women how to respond to the stories they heard and their own personal story by creating a pendant using the lost wax process. The final pieces were casted in recycled sterling silver; examples of which can be seen below:
21st August
Hibiscus Women’s Centre
Women from Hibiscus who were participating in the Heritage Project shared their personal stories with other women with similar lived experience. The Graphic Design facilitator Triss Qian showed everyone present at the workshop the blackout technique. We were given newspapers and asked to select a few words, blacking out the remaining text to create a new sentence. We then used different collage techniques, including cutting out letters from newspapers and using paint and mixed media, to decorate individual personal slogans related to personal lived experiences and our own opinions about the rights of women.
6th September
Hibiscus Women’s Centre
Women from Hibiscus shared aspects of their journey with other women who engage with the Hibiscus Initiatives Women’s Center. During this workshop, jewellery making facilitator Caroline Dodd showed the women how to respond creatively to these stories by creating an item of jewellery that represented either an aspect of their personal story, or their identity, by using the ‘lost wax process’. In this workshop, all the women made earrings and pendants. The pieces were then sent to a caster and turned into bronze pieces.
Images: These images depict both the women’s personal designs at the early wax stage, and the final product after being sent to a caster and turned into bronze items of jewellery.
11th September
Hibiscus Women’s Centre
Women who attend the Hibiscus Initiatives Women’s Centre shared stories relating to their personal lived experience with other women in a similar position. For the second part of the workshop, the graphic design facilitator Triss Qian taught the women how to create their own form of typography using shapes and letters. This technique is known as Neisy calligraphy. The women also created their own banners, depicting issues relating to their personal journey.
13th September
Women in Prison Hub: The Beth Center in Stockwell
On Wednesday 13th September, some of the women from Hibiscus shared stories from their personal journey with women at the Women in Prison Beth Center Hub. The jewellery making facilitator Caroline Dodd then showed the women how to creatively respond to the stories shared and their own personal journeys by creating jewellery. The women created earrings and charms, which were then cast.
The Hibiscus photography exhibition featuring some of the women and elements of their personal journey was also on display at the Beth Centre from Wednesday 13th – Friday 15th September.
6th October
Thamesmead Hub: Women In Prison
Women involved in the Heritage Project shared their personal stories and elements of their journey with staff and women who attend the Women in Prison Thamesmead Hub. Once the storytelling section was complete, the graphic design facilitator Triss Qian showed the women present how to sand down their own wooden block and stick to create drawing tools. Everyone used ink and paint to create a banner portraying their perceptions of being a woman. The banners were created in English, Hindi, Spanish and Igbo.
12th October
Hibiscus Women’s Centre
On Thursday 12th October women at Hibiscus shared stories about their personal journey with other women who attend the our Women’s Centre. The jewellery making facilitator Caroline Dodd then showed the women how to respond creatively to both the stories they heard, and their own lived experiences. The women made a variety of items, but the main focus of this workshop was three piece statement pendants as shown below.
18th October
Advance Women Centre
Women from Hibiscus Initiatives shared stories related to their lived experience of the immigration system with the workshop attendees from the Advance Women’s Centre. At the beginning of the graphic design workshop, everyone present was asked to close their eyes and listen to the words of inspirational women throughout the ages. The graphic design facilitator Triss Qian then showed the women how to express aspects of their personality and identity using graphic design techniques, with each woman creating art around a single letter. The women were also asked to decorate/paint each other’s artwork and the accompanying banner.
Viewed together, these individual letters spell out the phrase ‘We Are Women’.
1st November
Clean Break
The day started off with a short, fun quiz related to women’s history, Hibiscus and Clean Break. Ladies from Hibiscus talked about the history and heritage of Hibiscus Initiatives, using the exhibition boards. They shared their stories and how they came into contact with Hibiscus.
The Heritage Officer then asked everyone present to either draw around their feet or use sets of printed footsteps. They were also asked to write down elements of their creative journey before coming into contact with Hibiscus and Clean Break, and their creative journey after coming into contact with Hibiscus and Clean Break.
The day ended with a screening of the Women Inside film, made in collaboration with Blank Cheque. The short film is based on the lived experience of women who attend the Hibiscus Women’s Centre, with their words and stories acted out by actors.
23rd November
Women @ The Well Centre
Women from Hibiscus shared personal stories about their lived experience and connection to Hibiscus with the women who engage with the Women at The Well Centre. The Heritage Project Officer asked everyone present to share words of wisdom or a message they would like to give to another woman. The women and staff then used ink, paint, charcoal, decorated/tissue paper, fabric, wall paper and sponges to decorate and illustrate their beautiful and inspirational messages. These pieces were then shared, with each woman gifting their own work to another participant.
The Hibiscus Heritage Exhibition and photography exhibition was also on display.
November 29th
Manchester
On November 29th, women from Hibiscus shared stories about their personal journey and connection with Hibiscus with women from other migrant women organizations, and local community and justice groups in Manchester. All the groups present also had the chance to speak about their work and experience. We showed a screening of the Woman Inside film, which created by the women of Hibiscus in collaboration with Blank Cheque.
The Hibiscus Heritage Exhibition was also on display.
The Heritage Exhibition was on display at Women @ the Well centre during our storytelling and creative workshop, and at our collaborative Justice for Migrant Women event in Manchester.
These panels depicts the long and rich history of Hibiscus Initiatives. These panels were on display at the majority of storytelling and creative workshops, with the aim of introducing and sharing Hibiscus with a breadth of people and organisations.
Some of the women who attend the Hibiscus Initiatives Women’s Center undertook oral history training, and conducted oral history interviews with former staff members, trustees, and women who engage with the charity. The recorded interviews were then used as research material for the Hibiscus Heritage exhibition, which was displayed in different Women’s Centres and Hubs inside and outside of London.
These are a selection of images from the Hibiscus Archive which are not featured in the exhibition. They feature Olga Heaven MBE, former staff members, and past events that capture the growth of the charity.
Image 1 – former Project Worker Sandy, and volunteer assistant Florence.
Image 2 – former staff members including Silvia who worked as a project worker, and Ruth who worked in administration. Florence, former volunteer assistant for group work in prisons, Project Worker Sandy, Esther Heaven, Project Worker Basia, the first Chair of Hibiscus Pam Faulder, and Chair of Trustees, Prue. This image was taken in 2002, when Olga Heaven received her MBE.
Image 3 and Image 4 – Hibiscus Jamaica Hostel. The hostel could accommodate up to four families who could stay for up to 6 months. The images were taken circa 2009 -2010. Hibiscus Jamacia no longer operates.
Images 5-6 – Launch of Mamme Goes To London in Ghana in 2007.
