A new residency launched by Leeds Arts University staff, alumni and artists is asking public to participate online and share their experience of what home means to them with the hashtag #WhatDoesHomeMeansNow.
MA Creative Practice alumna Bobbi Rae and artists Jude Woods and Sherelene Cuffe were invited by researcher-curator and Subjects Leader in Postgraduate Studies, Janine Sykes, to collaborate on HOME, the Art Hostel’s debut art residency at its new home at Mabgate, Leeds.
Artist-Illustrator Bobbi Rae is working on a trilogy of large 2D prints, the colourful abstract forms depicted are to be inspired by the work of the other two artists as well as the responses of all those who reply to the call #WhatDoesHomeMeanNow. Like all artworks, the prints are to be displayed in the Art Hostel. We will be able to animate the prints through an AR app (online and in-situ).
Image: Bobbie Rae, Home.
Leeds based Textile artist Sherelene Cuffe is missing her family gatherings - a vital part of West Indian culture. Shere is also missing family members who live in St Vincent, a location that Shere calls ‘home’, in addition to Leeds but is unable to undertake her annual visit due to current restrictions. ‘Home is not a place it’s a feeling’ a phrase posted by an Art Hostel resident in 2018 (Seeding Art Currency, project) really resonates with Shere. She is currently collecting responses from her friends and family (near and far) through a series of questions about home.
Jude Woods
While shielding and busy working with older people through the Friendly Communities project, one of Jude Wood’s many artistic projects is creating a temporary shelter called a ‘bender’. Jude first encountered bender building at various peace camps from the 1980s onwards, this one is a ‘play bender’ made for their grandchildren. This act of making a shelter is a reminder of how ‘homemaking’ is a universal drive, as making a den or base remains a timeless childhood activity.
Jude, Shere, Bobbi and Janine invite everyone to explore the concept of home since the C-19 crisis, with posts exploring ‘HOME’ is.. using the hashtag #WhatDoesHomeMeanNow.
They are inviting members of the public, local and international, to create a portrait of what ‘Home’ means to them, the responses will be entwined in online and offline participatory activities taking place at the Art Hostel starting in April 2021.