a prayer for Coventry, life starts here (forever)
a prayer for Coventry, life starts here (forever) is the culmination of my two year residency at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum as part of the 20/20 project run by UAL Decolonising Arts Institute.
The exhibition is made up of a video, a zine and ribbons.
Video
The video centres an audio track which interweaves six interviews found in the oral history collection at The Herbert. All of the interviews were recorded around the millennium and are with people from Coventry or who were living in the city at the time the interviews were recorded. The audio track also features original piano and accordion by composer and musician Ruby Kyriakides, arranged by sound designer Meera Shakti Osbourne. Present day scenes of the city filmed by the artist, as well text on screen from the my grandparents (who are from Coventry), serve as a visual accompaniment.
The theme of the video is life itself and is split into the following sections: early family life, school and growing up, going to work, belonging, love and relationships, identity and finally, reflections/the meaning of life. Inspired by the Peace and Reconciliation collection at The Herbert, each section loosely explores everyday moments of peace, conflict and reconciliation as experienced by people who lived in Coventry.
Through centering oral histories, as ephemeral manifestations of lived experience, the video seeks to challenge the traditional hierarchy of historical/academic knowledge. The way the video interweaves different people's lives questions the way museums (and humans!) categorise people, identities, experiences and life.
The main aim is to showcase the love, loss and beauty present in life and Coventry.
Zine
The zine provides additional context to the video. It includes the artist's personal reflection on the process of this commission/residency and further explorations of themes such as life, death, family, archiving and decolonisation.
Ribbons
The ribbons are inspired by ‘ribbons of peace’ which the artist found tied around a bench in the graveyard where her Uncle George is buried and of course, the once thriving weaving trade in Coventry.
Lines from the oral history interviews used in the video are woven into the ribbon
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
Video Credits
Voices: Chris Christie, Ewan Wilkins, Joyanti Mukherji, Mavis Miles,Karem Singh Gill, Babs Hays
All of the voices in this video are from interviews in The Herbet’s oral histories collection. The interviews were conducted as part of The Herbet’s 'Reflecting on our Past, Present and Future' millenium project. The project was run by outreach officer Stacey Bains, The interviews selected for this video were recorded between 2000 - 2002. The interviewers were Stacey Bains and Helen Whitcombe.
Filmed and edited by: Cora Sehgal Cuthbert
Music by: Ruby Kyriakides
Sound design by: Meera Shakti Osbourne
Mixing and mastering by: Alex Sushon
Zine Credits
Contents by: Cora Sehgal Cuthbert
Designed by: Meera Shakti Osbourne
Printed by: Page Masters
Ribbon Credits
Contents: quotes from interviews found in the oral history collection at The Herbert
Designed by: Cora Sehgal Cuthbert
Made by: Woven Labels UK