The Living Mural by Adrian Barber
The Living Mural Project On the 11th December 2013 the exhibition and unveiling of the Living Mural project at www.brassbolton.org took place at the Victoria Halls in Bolton, the home of Brass a charity that works with asylum seekers and refugees. The Mayor of Bolton came down in the daytime to unveil the mural and Jon Lord (CEO) of Bolton at Home (who funded the project) hosted the evening event, both times of day were supported by hundreds of guests, service users, volunteers, staff and of course myself, Adrian Barber - the artist. The unveiling was in a sense the conclusion of the Living Mural project which has taken place over a five month period. Beginning with weekly arts drop-in sessions, the aim was to create many different forms of artwork and a design for a Living Mural - a conventional mural that became illuminated with moving projections, a sort of 'living wallpaper' ever changing with the participants own artwork. This artwork was generated each week with workshops that included mandala design, spin art, marbling inks, the Trumball tank technique, Jackson Pollock style water pistol artwork along with days out in the town using photography and video to record architectural and culture reference points that could be integrated into the final mural design. This design was a collaborative evolution of ideas, doodles, conversations and staff requests and now sit proudly on the walls of the charities home in the Victoria Halls in Bolton. As the service users of the charity wait for their appointments in the hall they are now entertained by a moving cultural kaeildoscope of colour and music as the mural comes alive with the content generated by the asylum seekers and refugees. For lots more photos and info about this project there is also a Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BrassLivingMural
...or if you are in Bolton's centre you are welcome (on request) to view the Living Mural in action yourselves (although this is subject to the on-going lessons and women only sessions that maybe taking place depending on the time you visit).
