Hull Maritime's Community Engagement Officer, Emma visits the ‘Seeds of Change’ exhibition at Prospect Gallery and talks about the work.
Local artist Lauren Saunders has created the ‘Seeds of Change’ exhibition, currently on display at Prospect Gallery, Hull city centre. The exhibition is a celebration of radical kindness towards the more-than-human world and includes work that visual artist, Lauren Saunders has made in the studio, outdoors, in collaboration with more-than-human beings and alongside various community groups.
On visiting the exhibition, I was struck by the range of drawings, film, sculptures and mixed media pieces on display and the way that Lauren has worked collaboratively with nature and the non-human to create thought provoking artworks.
Lauren Saunders describes Seeds of Change as “a research-led, practice-based expression of a kinder, more respectful alternative in which we value, respect, and learn from the more-than-human world.
“Creating this body of work has been so transformational for me in the way that I've been thinking about life, sustainability, and how we interact with the other beings we share this planet with, and I hope this exhibition sows some seeds for positive transformation in others too. I'm so excited to finally be able to share this work within our community!”
I was particularly excited to see the artworks in the exhibition created during Lauren’s ‘Riverspeaking’ creative course. The course was funded through Hull Maritime’s community grant scheme and has been a joy to hear about.
During Riverspeaking, participants took part in a project that creatively explored what it means to have a relationship with Hull’s water. Taking an autoethnographical perspective, participants reflected and creatively responded to their experiences and personal relationship with water to consider how other Hull citizens might live compassionately and sensitively alongside the water as a maritime city of the future. To find out more about the course you can read a blog post written by one of the participants, Nadine. Read here.
The creative pieces were really thought provoking and in a range of media showcasing each participant’s different style and creative responses to the themes and topics discussed during the course.
If you would like to visit the exhibition, there is still time! Seeds of Change is open every Wednesday, 1 - 6pm, Friday 11am - 4pm and Saturday 11am - 3pm until 15 September.
