Two thought-provoking exhibitions will provide first-hand insights into the experiences of young people in care and those with disabilities in the workplace.
Art Cares and Invisible Visible both opened at Bishop Auckland Town Hall on Wednesday 11th September.
Originally displayed in bus shelters across the region as part of the Art Stops project, Art Cares brings together 29 unique artworks by young people who have experienced living in care. The artworks share the young people’s thoughts, feelings, and passions, while celebrating their diversity and sending out a clear message – ‘We are people, not problems’.
The exhibition will be on display in the Main Gallery at the Durham County Council venue, where visitors can also watch a documentary created by the young people about how art and creativity support them to express their emotions.
In the Strong Room Gallery, meanwhile, Invisible Visible invites an unflinching foray into the individual and collective experiences of those with disabilities in the workplace.
Created by Hope Caitlin Simpson, a 23-year-old poet, photographer and visual artist from Bishop Auckland, the exhibition details seven unique and anonymous first-hand accounts of being disabled in the workplace. Each account is translated into visual language to spark conversations around a topic that is often treated as taboo.
Hope, who has been chronically ill since the age of 11, said: “Being disabled can feel akin to being both invisible and hyper visible, without ever really feeling seen. I’ve spent most of my teenage years and those of a young adult, feeling the constant pressure to make myself smaller in order to fit into the world around me.
“This collection speaks to the reality that there is much more we can do in the world to make space and I hope those who can see themselves represented, can know their value is in every part of themselves.”
Hope created Invisible Visible in collaboration with the social enterprise organisation, Changing Relations, Bishop Auckland Town Hall and Durham University.
The exhibitions will be open to the public from Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, until Saturday 30th November.
For more information about Bishop Auckland Town Hall, visit: www.bishopauck landtownhall.org.uk