Artworks by some of Britain’s most celebrated artists, including Turner Prize nominees Tracey Emin and Cornelia Parker and Turner Prize-winner Gillian Wearing CBE are being brought together by women from Colchester in a new exhibition presented by Firstsite and the Arts Council Collection.
Tell me the story of all these things, the third in the Essex gallery’s series of National Partners Programme exhibitions with the Arts Council Collection, continues Firstsite’s new collaborative curatorial process designed to create exhibitions that reflect the lives and most pressing issues faced by local people from all sections of society, through incorporating them directly in the exhibition making process.
Civic leaders, community organisers, artists, designers, politicians, mothers and the Colchester business owners have worked with Firstsite to present this exhibition which examines the role of emotion and soft power in our society and how this can be used positively to connect and empower us.
The group have been meeting together to discuss their lives, feelings, priorities and concerns since they witnessed the unveiling of Gillian Wearing’s statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, which Firstsite co-commissioned with the Mayor of London.
“I was so delighted to get this opportunity and would never have imagined that I would co-curate an art exhibition. It was fun developing the themes and seeing how the group transferred those themes into their choices. It challenged my preconceived ideas throughout the whole experience” – Cllr Julie Young, Community Curator.
Artworks were specifically selected based on the emotions, stories and memories these provoked, and these will be presented in the gallery to explore the group’s question “How do we create a show about empowerment which is also empowering to experience?”
The exhibition title is inspired by Rehana Zaman’s 2016 film Tell me the story of all these things (included in the exhibition) which revolves around a conversation between the artist and her two sisters as they prepare a meal. Each member of the group related to this piece, prompting recollections and conversations about what the piece evoked for each individual.
