PassionArt – Dr Bexl Revamp

[WRITER] Thinking about #ILongToBelong with @PassionArtTrail – Belonging online, inc @YBCN_UK

Passionart has a new project for this year, focusing on the theme of ‘Belonging’:

We are using the theme of BELONGING as a way to consider a number of issues related to social justice. (I.e. diversity, gender, poverty, mental health, homelessness, refugees and many more) Working alongside graphic word artist Micah Purnell we aim to generate some creative responses for the project that can be used to grow a city wide conversation around the theme of Belonging. To begin our research we would like to invite a number of people from a variety of backgrounds and contexts to tell us what belonging means to them.

I wanted to write a piece for this, and my piece starts:

Over the past few years, one of the places that I have felt that I am able to truly belong is online, on my blog, and on social media. It’s a space in which my voice has found expression, a space in which I feel free to be seen, acknowledged and accepted as myself. Read the whole article.

This piece was written at a similar time to my Lent reflection for Radio 4, so there a couple of minor overlaps, but very much a piece on its own.

#BeStillMcr by @PassionArtTrail #Questionnaire

I would really appreciate your help in completing a short questionnaire (12 questions, 5 minutes) around the Passionart Trail. The questionnaire is designed partly to provide information to the Passionart project, and partly to demonstrate to my students the positive uses to which market research can be put.

On Qu 1, if you are under 16, or Qu 2, you have never been to Manchester/don’t plan to in next 12 months, thank you, but you do not fit our target audience for this questionnaire.

What is PassionArt?

The PassionArt Trail is a visual arts pilgrimage hosted by six key cultural venues across the city of Manchester during the season of Lent 10th Feb – 2nd April 2016. Host venues are Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester Cathedral, The John Rylands Library, St Ann’s Church, St Mary’s RC Church and Ziferblat, a social space in the Northern Quarter. Work will include Julian Stair’s ceramic exhibition ‘Quietus’, and feature work by Micah Purnell, conceptual public artist. You can find out more by visiting www.passionart.guide, or searching #BeStillMcr on Twitter, but for a brief description read:

Passionart: BE STILL (2016) celebrates the ancient Christian festival of Lent through the mindful reflection of art in six of Manchester’s most iconic venues. Contemporary installations, paintings, sculpture and live performances by internationally renowned and local artists uncover moments where the sacred inhabits the ordinary. Seeking silence and stillness in a busy city is a spiritual exercise that all can explore, religious or secular. The art trail can be walked as a full days pilgrimage or each venue discovered as a single reflection in a lunch hour. Personal meditations from people of all walks of life around the theme of stillness can be found on our websites 40 days page, one for everyday of the season, to aid you in your Lenten journey.

The Questionnaire

This questionnaire is designed to collect data as to public attitudes regarding mindfulness – including ‘being still’, peace and spirituality, during the season of Lent. The questionnaire is quick to complete, comprising only 12 questions, and will inform our decision making as to how we publicise the event, as well as used to teach marketing students at Manchester Metropolitan University and any related publication/dissemination activities. Data collected is anonymous.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire (not open to those under 16).

40 Days

I have also written a piece for ’40 Days of Reflections’, reflecting upon mindfulness, rest and the faith journey … and a trip to Doubtful Sound in New Zealand. I look forward to reading the rest when Lent starts February 10th 2016.