SIFA Fireside in Birmingham ran an art project called ‘My Birmingham’ for the homeless community in the city. It enabled the participants to explore their own unique and often unheard interpretation of Birmingham through different artistic methods such as film and photography. The project was hugely successful and led to three public exhibitions of the work.
Marie Dennehy, a Project Worker at SIFA Fireside says:
“Homeless people represent a section of our society whose voices are all too often disregarded and left unheard. The My Birmingham art project gave those involved the opportunity to break down this barrier and voice their opinions through digital media.
During the weekly sessions the service users at SIFA Fireside created two films and a range of photographs capturing their view of Birmingham.
‘Reflections’, the first film is a documentary which explores the issue of homelessness in Birmingham through the eyes of those affected.
‘Hot Pot Man’, the second film, is a comedy following the story of unlikely superhero ‘Hot Pot Man,’ who can only escape his existence as a homeless person through a serving of ‘Hot Pot’ from SIFA Fireside’s drop in centre. This film pokes fun at the ’soup kitchen’ culture within homeless services where homeless people can sometimes seem to be only catered for through hot meals, rather than examining other issues such as resettlement, education etc.
Both films empowered the participants to voice their thoughts and opinions to the wider community about issues that are important to them.
During our photography sessions those involved travelled on foot across Birmingham City Centre with disposable cameras taking a variety of images that represented their view of Birmingham. This session was supported by an employee from Reel Access who was able to supply us with a digital camera to capture a number of images on.
My Birmingham art project has been a huge inspiration for the homeless community. Their work was publicly exhibited in three venues, St Martin’s Church in the Bullring, The Custard Factory and BVSC (Birmingham Voluntary Service Centre).
The participants were immensely proud of this. *John* who has been interested in art for years said that it was the first time his work had been displayed.
The opportunity has also inspired those involved to continue creating art work on their own and many have requested that SIFA Fireside run more art projects. *Roger* found that the art work gave ‘his mind something to think about’ and ‘helped lift (his) depression’.
For most this was their first experience of using digital media. They were given the opportunity to access materials such as cameras, video recorders and computer equipment that would have previously been inaccessible to them due to their situation and circumstances.
