Across the past year, Grand Union has collaborated with MA students from the University of Birmingham’s Art History and Curating course to produce a programme of work entitled ‘Comfort Near Me’. Join us for May’s Digbeth First Friday to see the culmination of this project.
‘Comfort Near Me’ explores practices of comfort within Grand Union’s community. By working with studio artists and the Minerva Group, the programme aims to encourage sharing comfort found not just in physical places, but in intangible forms. The programme intends to invite visitors to consider how and where comfort can exist further afield, explored through reflection and connection.
This programme is comprised of a newly commissioned film revealing ways in which Grand Union studio artists Roo Dhissou, Sarah Taylor Silverwood, and Nilupa Yasmin create comfort within their studios; a workshop hosted by Nilupa Yasmin with the Minerva Group stitching together personal narratives of comfort to make a unified artwork; and an immersive installation inside Alberta Whittle’s Bothy, bringing together these components. The programme is accompanied by a small publication that can be picked up on the night from the Bothy, designed in collaboration with Sofia Niazi.
For May’s Digbeth First Friday, join the student group in the Bothy to see the installation, watch this newly commissioned film and write up some reflections on the connections formed between people, the conversations sparked, and the questions you are invited to consider – how do you find comfort, and how do you create it?
‘Comfort Near Me’ is a programme of events curated by Niamh Davies, Katie Lansbury, Prakasit Prasertsuk, Kate Roden, Firuza Rodrigues, Lottie Sowerby, Megan Tolputt, and Lulu Wright from MA Art History and Curating in collaboration with Grand Union, supported by the University of Birmingham.
