Settling (2017-19)
By
Sam Ivin
Hyacinth Stone by Sam Ivin
A project exploring human migration to Stoke-on-Trent.
Settling began as a 3-month summer residency with local arts organisation Appetite (part of Arts Council England funded Creative People and Places programme) and photography producer GRAIN projects. The brief, co-designed by the local community, was to create a display for the local festival The Big Feast ‘17 on the topic of human migration to Stoke, using local people’s personal photo albums.
The stories Ivin discovered during the residency were so fascinating and poignant he decided to apply for Arts Council England funding to expand the work. Settling explores the different stories of people who have moved to Stoke-on-Trent from around the world. Settling was supported by GRAIN Projects, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Appetite and Arts Council England and was exhibited at Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Hanley from May to September 2019.
Made in collaboration with local residents, Settling is a series of diptych portraits that tell the stories of people who have moved to Stoke-on-Trent from around the world. Stories include the life journey of World War Two veteran Walerian Tyminski, Pat Phillips the wife and business partner of a local artist, and Aida Haughton’s story on finding love in post-war Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The work is available for exhibition hire and has been shown at Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in 2019 and will show at Keele University in Spring 2021.
“Sam created an important opportunity for people in Stoke on Trent to engage with significant issues that are prevalent in the city. Through a series of meetings, workshops and group sessions, in which he led activities to provide people a voice and an opportunity to tell their stories, Sam created an important new body of work. He also built a new community archive that represents the people of Stoke on Trent who have moved to the city for a range of reasons, from family, to work, to asylum and safety. The exhibition was a fantastic new body of work that a diverse range of audiences from across the city engaged with. The archive is the legacy where people will be able to access these important stories in the future through the city archive service. Sam used an important socially engaged photography methodology, one that was appropriate and respectful to the community. He also worked with a broad range of community and public sector partners in Stoke to ensure the project was collaborative and a success. The project contributed greatly to the photography landscape of the Midlands, has influenced people, practitioners and the public sector to talk about an important topic and made a significant contribution to Sam’s own professional and career development. I hope the agencies in Stoke and ourselves can do more work within the city and with the community as a result of Sam’s important work.”
“I had the privilege of opening and attending the Settling exhibition at PMAG. It was a wonderful evening with a chance to meet the people portrayed in the exhibition in the flesh and get their feedback on how they had progressed since then. The stories were heart warming, funny, sad and poignant but most of all it gave the visitors the opportunity of seeing from another side the way that resettlement, whether forced or voluntary, affects the human condition. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and look forward to the next chapter.”
To read the publication, Settling, scroll through the PDF below:
More information: www.settlingstoke.com
