Discovering Bolton

Workshop with women from different communities and cultural backgrounds living and working in Bolton - U.K.

During ‘Three Halves’, exhibition at the Bolton Museum, I was invited to create a workshop space at the Asia Community Center with 6 women participants on the basis of their response to the ‘concept of journeys, identities and relationships’. I discussed with them my residency at Hope University at Liverpool – an Industrial city and a port. Lin Holland and David Lewis lived in Liverpool. And me being from Mumbai formerly known as Bombay, a major port in India and how we could relate to the history of Indian and British trade relationships and the trade between two port cities.

As we discussed the concept of ‘Three Halves’ and ‘Liverpool Streets’ in front of the installation at the Museum, they said that they had never experienced being involved in a project with artists before. But when the idea to reflect on – ‘whether we really know our cities we live in, it became the focus of our discussion and from that evolved ‘Discovering Bolton - 2003’. They seemed very keen to think of the places in Bolton city that they did not know or knew well enough. They found the process interesting. Also it gave them a space to experience working together as a team. As we continued, what began to surface was an issue of their identities in their own communities and in this country. I was invited to visit their homes and they showed me their family photographs taken during family occasions and outings, but in most of the family pictures emphasis was not so much on the site but on the people in the picture, so we began talking about the significance of the site as well. Looking at family pictures together made them understand the concept of the project. Some of them brought and used city maps to select the sites to be photographed. Four mutually chosen places were - Rivers Irwell and Croal, Queens Park, Moses Gate, and Derby St. Each participant had reasons behind the chosen areas. Due to many new findings linked to Bolton by each one including me, we began to interact more openly.

The communication between each other encouraged them to describe themselves and their homelands while taking photographs of their chosen sites in the city. “Our perceptions of journeys can often speak about our identity and our personal experiences” said one of the participants. “Travel sessions to take pictures…I have never felt happier in my life to set out like this and to have met so many different people. It has given me the incentive to get out from my day-to-day work and do something for myself and know others’ perceptions…and there is so much to learn from each other…especially sharing knowledge between all…. We sometimes feel that we know everything, I suppose that’s ignorance…” said another participant… “My views on Asian people have changed. I feel I have made new friends and have learnt to appreciate how different cultures can bring in new perspectives. I would love to be involved in another project like this with an artist” was one more view.

On the other hand, I normally study a city structure before leaving India and while traveling mark the places I visit or want to visit but this project exposed me to so many more public and private spaces that I would not have explored on my own, for example the sites of Irwell and Croal flowing through / underneath Bolton City (that I chose to photograph) would not have been in my list. Looking at the pictures everyone had taken I realized that most of the participants liked open and green spaces or the water bodies.

The independently taken pictures were installed at the foyer of the Bolton Museum by the participants on one surface keeping in mind the aesthetic sensibility of each.