Art lovers can celebrate the unveiling of a brand-new visual art exhibition at HOME’s Inspire Gallery created by WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together), a network of sanctuary-seeking women in Greater Manchester. In collaboration with visual artist Ashleigh Beattie, they have created mixed media collages using textile and repurposed found material, responding to the festival theme, More in Common. The launch event will be accompanied by a live performance from the WAST Choir.
WAST Manchester is a grassroots organisation led by and for women seeking asylum in Greater Manchester. We campaign for social justice and women's rights through a peer-led support model that helps women find their place in the UK. We deliver our work based on the values of compassion, respect, inclusion and empowerment. Our goal is to support women within the UK’s asylum system to integrate into the wider community and feel empowered to know their rights and have access to support regarding their basic needs, healthcare, immigration cases and other activities run by the charity.
Ashleigh Beattie is a Zimbabwean artist based in Manchester. She came to the UK in 2005 to study Fine Art at Cumbria Institute of the Arts. Since then, she has lived and worked as an artist, teacher, workshop facilitator and mother. Her practice explores themes of displacement and belonging as a migrant living in the diaspora. She repurposes everyday materials such as newspapers and tin cans. Through her work these materials are transformed and given permanence. This repurposing draws from her childhood in Zimbabwe, where nothing is thrown away - everything is repurposed.
WAST: More In Common will be exhibited in our Inspire Gallery in the ground floor Cafe Bar from Mon 9 Jun – Sun 31 Aug.
