Listening to Joan

It was interesting to read what Joan says about the Irish community in Bradford. I learned a lot from that paragraph. I didn’t know about their history as a minority in Bradford.  

I really like how Joan captures the feeling of connection when working on Above the Noise. One of the best moments of my career was at a small museum in Skipton where we made an exhibition about Islamic art with the Muslim Museum Initiative. I’ll never forget the energy on the opening night. Joan’s piece reminded me of this feeling when you are in a space together and there is a sense of the power of sharing. It felt like such a good thing museums can achieve. Joan describes this electricity and energy she shared with the people she was working with. I should think that this feeling is completely unique to an exhibition process that focuses on bringing people together. Here it sounds like there was space and time to share stories, to discover connections we didn’t know were there, and present on gallery what was created together.   

It is really great to know Joan felt heard, that in this process each person was being taken seriously and given time. There is always a worry in collaborative projects that partners we work with pour their hearts into it, and then the result is changed for whatever reason before it goes on the walls in an exhibition, and the intended vision or message gets lost.  

Martin Wills, Project Client Manager

Joan Russell's moment

When I was first asked to take part in the Above the Noise exhibition, I felt quite nervous about what...