Our reflective round-up of the project.

BY KATIE:
Hands are a form of identity; they show our age, our experiences, jobs and history. A photograph of somebody’s hands can tell you a lot about a person. Give Me Your Hand’s aim was to record the diverse culture of Lozells and East Handsworth by the collection of people’s hands, but we did not just want to record the hands, we wanted to join them. By asking people for their hopes and dreams for the their own futures and for the future of Lozells and East Handsworth we could demonstrate that many people from many different backgrounds can be united; united in how they would like to see the area changing, improving and also what they would like to stay the same.

Our project began at the Community Ward Meeting in Welford Primary School, where we were immediately impressed by the strong views and opinions of the few that were there. This meeting led to our connection with Heathfield Primary School, where many young opinions would be heard. Wire sculpture workshops and Good Luck symbols were the backdrop for our discussions with the groups about what they want for the future. Many wild and wonderful dreams were announced, including hopes for mansions to live in, horses to ride and theme parks to play in. These high hopes were accompanied by simple wishes like dust bins to put the rubbish in, less littering in the streets and for people to just get along; wise words for such young people and realistic goals for a City Council to work towards. The next group we worked with was Dorcas, this group of older ladies meet every Wednesday at Lozells Methodist Church; they have an abundance of art and craft materials but often don’t get the chance to use them. We went along to the group to encourage them to use their hands as tools and as imagery to decorate fabric bags. Whilst we talked with the women they discussed that they had already lived their lives and any hopes they had would be for other people, although they did all wish that they could feel safer, that there was a feeling of wellbeing in the area and that people could cooperate. Similarly in Bangladeshi Youth Forum the young men talked of wanting Lozells to be a peaceful place and wanting a happy community. Whilst learning Portrait Photography techniques and how to create Origami flowers they told us that ‘there is no divide between Lozells and East Handsworth,’ showing just how close the community is to achieving many people’s wishes.

For the final part of Give Me Your Hand we took a large Suggestion Box on a tour around the area, the box was decorated with the posters we have produced throughout the project. This was an attempt to take the views we had gathered back into the community. Whilst we walked we continued to ask the people that we met for their suggestions, which were posted into the box, and we gathered more hands with a scanner and computer built into the box. In order to deliver our project we have had to be sensitive to the community and just before our planned tour there was a serious shooting incident that resulted in the death of a young man, we were a little concerned about how the community might respond to a performance such as this, but all of the people we spoke to responded well and had lots to say. It was interesting to see how the box served as an attraction for people and also how it became a tool for writing on, leaning on and standing around. The views we gathered throughout the tour were reflective of those that we had gathered through the other events during the project with most people hoping for more community cohesion, activities to do and less litter and crime.

BY ANNA:

The notion of ‘community’ is something that kept cropping up throughout the project, and this has provided for us an understanding of the difficulties which arise from the use of this word. Whenever we asked people about their hopes and dreams for the area, community cohesion would be brought up again and again. We realised through our interactions with people that here, as with any place, there is not one overarching community, but many, some of which interrelate and overlap, and others which do not. We found that in some ways the word, rather than being a positive force which brings people together, in fact may at times help to segregate and divide. This was something that the people of the area were very aware of, and which many of the people and groups we worked with on the project, were trying to do something about, by putting on events and setting up projects which might cross boundaries, and bring people together.

We knew from the beginning that it was important for us to gain a foothold in the community, and this is something that I have always wondered about…How does an artist find the community in order to work with them? With this in mind we attended the ward meeting in the hope that we might interest people in the project, and it was there that we found our first Key Person, Nigel, a Community Support Officer. We learnt that there is no secret to this process of approaching people, it is just about being open and honest about what you are trying to do, and what you are offering - we discovered the benefits of identifying the key person within the community who can help you find an ‘in.’ Nigel was able to suggest leads for us to follow up, and put us in touch with local schools.

The project as a whole was designed to find out what the people of the area really feel about the place. The surprising thing for me has been just how willing people have been to talk to us, and not just in the workshops, where a relationship and trust can be built up; but also on the streets during our tours. There have been a lot of consultation initiatives in the area over the years, and this shows itself in the very rehearsed, almost fatigued initial responses we would get from people when setting out our questions. We knew from the research and development days that people were tired of outsiders coming in and portraying the area in a negative way; and their answers, when stopped on the street, could be seen as a community showing a united front. In response to this we found that distraction is a very good tool for consultation. The workshops we did with people all involved working with our hands in various ways, but for us the most important part of these sessions was the conversation generated in between making and doing. While making bags, or doing origami the process of shared enterprise can form a bond. Even to some extent on the street, going through the process of scanning in a person’s hands and printing them out allows a space in time for an exchange to take place, the individual’s guard would on occasion drop for a moment, the result of which was a deeper understanding for us about the individual’s true feelings about where they live.

The project required us as practitioners to be flexible in our approach, responding to the groups and individuals, and picking up on what they may be able to gain from the exchange. This has helped us to define our own feelings as practitioners working with communities, helping to sketch out an ethical map, and understand what is really at stake when working with people in this way. The recognition that trust is key to the relationships formed, and ultimate success or failure of the project is something that we will definitely take forward into future projects. Trust can be formed in any number of ways, but here we learnt that it is simple things that make the difference, like mucking in and making the tea, or just doing what you say you are going to do - for example if you say you will send someone a photo from the workshop you did, then you should do it, and making it a personal rule to always be on time.

So, what did we find through our workshops and tours?

A welcoming vibrant community, where people will happily chat to you on the street. People are realistic about the problems here, but as was reiterated numerous times; the problems in Lozells and East Handsworth are much the same as other places. Crime, violence and drugs are problems, but perhaps these are exaggerated and focused on too much by the media.

People want a safer, cleaner place to live, where there are more activities and opportunities for young and old people alike. These things are not too hard to achieve, with a little thought, and the people of the area have lots of ideas of how to go about it.