Connect to your roots. Connect to your neighbourhood. Artist, Saira Niazi, reflects on the art school she created as part of the Culturally Mindful programme.
Where do we go? Who do we meet? What places hold memories of joy, laughter and connection? Where can we find quiet? Where can we go to learn and to create? To play and to worship? To connect with nature? To make new friends and be part of a community?
Humara Mohallah Art School, based at Manresa Clubroom, in the heart of the Alton Estate, is an art school centred around place. Co-designed with the community organisation Roehampton Wellbeing for Women and Children, mostly serving older South Asian women, many of whom are socially isolated and mostly housebound, our programme seeks to enable our students a sense of connection and belonging to themselves, each other and place.
Our programme of activities seeks to improve physical and mental health and wellbeing, strengthen friendship through storytelling, invite discovery and learning about local places, projects and services and encourage creativity and play through the facilitation of art workshops, allowing people to learn new skills, experiment with different materials and try out various crafts.
The 13 sessions have included a neighbourhood walking tour, a nature wandering, a storytelling session, painting places, an autumnal themed “design your tote bag” session, mosaic, creative writing, a two-part blue Multani pottery workshop and a final showcase. Most sessions end with an exercise class run by an exercise teacher. We have had between 19 – 30 people attending each session and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with attendee’s sharing the difference the programme is making to both their wellbeing and lives. A total of 36 people attended our final session. Although the sessions have officially come to an end, we have two Southall food tours planned for the near future!
Much of my work is centred around connecting people, places, projects and stories through 'wanderings;' walks that join up places of interest. I also invite people to create and share art work inspired by the wanderings and by place.
I’ve seen first-hand the benefits wandering tours have on communities – from improving physical and mental wellbeing, combating social isolation, creating friendships, to empowering individuals to explore places they consider are 'not for them'. -
The aims of the project were to:
- Enable a sense of connection and belonging to ourselves/ each other and place
- Strengthen community and friendship through storytelling/ sharing
- Invite the community to discover and learn about local places, projects and services and stories through a co-created “orientation” walk
- To encourage creativity and play through the facilitation of art workshops allowing people to use different materials and try out different methods.
About Saira Niazi
I'm a walking artist, “renegade” guide and founder of Living London.
I’m interested in people in spaces and stories and the way they can enable us to connect to ourselves and each other.
Over the years, I’ve designed and delivered hundreds of “wanderings,” walking tours that connect up hidden gems and bring them to life through storytelling and anecdotes of people and place. I’ve partnered with various organisations including Tate, UCL, House of St Barnabas, Impact on Urban Health, Creative Society, Wimbledon Book Festival and many more. Having worked in various environments from community canteens, and schools to age activity centres, inclusivity, and accessibility are key to my work. My practice is trauma-informed and I am a mental health first aider.
More on my work and projects can be found here.
