Our new Culture Team has been busy making connections with local people and projects. Here is an update of news and inspirations from volunteers and allies in the surrounding area.
What we are doing: Activist actions within and around the local area:
Local Activism: Vigil on Telegraph Hill “On Saturday 20th of March, a vigil was held in Telegraph Hill. In light of the events of the week before and after the vigil for Sarah Everard, we decided to bring our resistance home. We wanted to create a local space where people could gather safely because we’ve heard from people here that they were wary of big protests because of covid and arrests. We wanted to create a different type of protest, and we felt that the best way to do this was to remember the names of the women killed in the past year as a result of systemic patriarchal violence. This was expressed through art and poetry, to give space to things that otherwise cannot be expressed. We want to maintain this space for as long as possible; a week later, the candles have been relit, and the main banner is still standing, it has lasted this long, and we would like to last longer and for people of the community to revive it as they deem suitable.” written by A&L
Melodies for Mums A women’s health advocate, Southwark resident and Culture Team volunteer, Jenny has contributed to this social campaign for Women’s History Month with Melodies for Mums – a groundbreaking singing service for mothers experiencing anxiety and postnatal depression. An organisation that began in Southwark and is now nationwide. Jenny is on the 0:14 sec mark.
What we are Reading/Writing:
Here is an essay titled Stop Telling Women to Smile: On the social possibilities of expressing and performing refusal of violent gazes by Salomé, Visual Anthropologist and Culture Team member.
What we are watching/ listening to:
Here is a film The Parable of a Grounded Woman (Password: TheParable) by artist Elisabeth Tomlinson. The Parable of the Grounded Woman portrays the physical body as a social and political symbol and addresses the constructions of subjectivity that the body takes on in the social context.
The film was inspired by a piece of writing she wrote:
The River by Elisabeth_Tomlinson
There once was a traveller accompanied by a road As she went from one place to another, she encountered a River as it followed her Road She altered her journey to welcome the River. Read more… Beside the rive she built a home. To know the river, she purchased a boat. She steps into the water, her feet grow numb. She climbs into her boat, it sways and shakes. She draws a calming breath, it tremors then stills. She paddles down the river. The current guides her gently and she revels in the ease of no resistance. Her courage swells at the false assurance. Courage flees as the River’s calm turn to turmoil by the rocks beneath. From her roadside perch, this turmoil promised challenge. From her Rive view, it threatens defeat. She faces the first rapid with hear shaking her limbs And a sob at her lips She finds her way to the other side, mind frantic Betrayed by her optimism, She climbs out of the River and returns to her road Now the carrier of her boat, She opposes the River’s current on foot. Her feet blister, and anger grows. Her time of ease in the river earned her a painful return. Today her anger fades to frustration at her failure. On shore, she sits in her boat. She examines it with hands. She conducts research with her eyes. She understands the space of her companion. Today, frustration is a memory and the River once again holds promise. She mounts the river and lingers in the calm to build her self for the future. She confronts the first Rapid And bites at her heart to keep it inside her mouth. She pulls in her breath against the sob at her lips. She emerges, mind frantic, but victorious. She continues on. At the second obstacle, she releases her sob and with it her fear. At the third, there is no sob. Her thrill subsides as her heart slows and the river calms. She is left with Joy Once again she carries her boat against the current. On this journey, the road refuses to end. The sky grows dark and it does not end. Her back aches and her feet crack but it does not end. Her joy in the river earned her a painful return. Today, victory is fruitless and joy is a memory. She watches the River from her safe ground and allows her body its weakness As her strength returns, she removes her possessions and purifies her home. She cleanses the walls and brushes the floor. She occupies her space. Today weakness has served its purpose. She passes the calm to confront the river’s trial. She pushes and fights. She is heady and hopeful. She forgets her limitations and the River overturns her hope. She is tossed and battered. Her returning sob is swallowed by the River’s current. Washed onto shore, her comfort is the solid ground of her journey home And the weightlessness of a lost companion. Today, there is only pain and fury. Her body damaged, but her mind numb, She tears down her home. She stands on her road between her home that fell and the River that betrayed. Without her boat to navigate her choices. Today, her numbness is defeat and her body caves. Today, numbness serves a purpose. She rebuilds her Home. Her hands callous, her back strengthens. She is consumed with the making. Today, anger re-emerges and supplies strength She searches for her boat. Her romance with the River deepens as she follows its movement along her road She discovers her boat cradled in the River’s bed She climbs in her boat and begins their journey home. This time confronting the river directly. Her arms ache and her calloused hands ware through As she strains against the River Today, she is Home once more. She did not defeat the river, But neither was she defeated by the River. Today, she rests on her Road between her Home, her Boat and her River. Today, she digs a garden to replace her Road. Each day she tends the garden with water from the river. Each day she baths together with her river. Each day, she and her Boat journey together with her River.
