The fourth and final part in the Arts Council Collection’s 'Store to Tour' short film series is now online. The latest film focuses on an inspiring new community partnership between Birmingham Museums Trust and homelessness charity Shelter, developed alongside current National Partners exhibition, Women Power Protest.
Marking a century since the first women won the right to vote, the Women Power Protest exhibition brings together modern and contemporary artworks from the Arts Council Collection and Birmingham’s own collection to celebrate female artists who have explored protest, social commentary and identity in their work.
Birmingham Museums Trust has been working with Shelter for over a year to develop opportunities for local service users to visit the museum and engage with its exhibition programme by creating ‘safe spaces’ for conversation and contemplation. In the latest Store to Tour film, we hear from Birmingham Museums Trust Learning Officer, Jon Sleigh and Taiba Rafakat from Shelter, Birmingham on the work they have been doing alongside current National Partners exhibition, Women Power Protest.
As part of a series of coffee mornings held before the exhibition opened, Shelter invited local service users to discuss artworks being considered for inclusion, discussing the ideas and themes behind them as well as talking about their experiences of homelessness and domestic abuse. ‘There’s a lot of empowerment that goes on in these sessions.’ says Rafakat, ‘…because we’ve got different clients who are at different stages of their recovery so they’re able to give other service users a comforting word or a shoulder to lean on.’
