Ghetto Gardens
Ghetto Gardens Part 1. 2019
Handsworth is an urban, inner city area of Birmingham. This developing area has a rich past, being a central part of the industrial revolution and having a post-World War II influx of West Indian and Afro-Caribbean communities. They were later joined by an influx of Sikhs from the Punjab region of India during the 1960s. The racial tension at this time continued to grow and erupted into a riot in 1981. Riots also occurred in 1985, 1991 and 2005, explained as "essentially an outburst of anger and resentment by young black people against the police”. (Lord Scarman, Senior English Judge, 1981) Despite the criminal climate, Handsworth celebrates the cultures of the immigrants who reside there. Festivals are held throughout the year to bring communities together and introduce neighbours to different customs from their respective heritages.
It is apparent through a walk in Handsworth that dilapidated buildings are either left desolate, or are layered upon with different cultures; Punjabi sweet shops, eastern European off-licences, Jamaican barbers, churches and temples. The streets are layered with the remnants of the conflict between crime and celebration. The prints in this series seek to piece together these remnants and evoke a ‘sense of place’. The three prints concern memory, place and story respectively; taking a look at what living in Handsworth entails, concerning the criminal climate, diverse history of individuals and layers of culture, of which I recognise some as my own.
Ghetto Gardens Part 2. 2020
The on-going Coronavirus pandemic is affecting all the world's nations, but not equally. Where the Global South struggles to manage the virus, working with limited healthcare capacities and poor infrastructure, the Global North has - in many cases - been able to deploy strategies to protect its citizens, while limiting damage to its economies. Nevertheless, even in the Global North, the impact of the virus has not been equal. Poorer communities and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately impacted by the virus. Areas such as Handsworth, Birmingham (UK) which is still seeing rapidly rising numbers of cases, despite tighter restrictions on socialising.
Handsworth, an urban inner-city area has in the past survived gang wars, racial tension and riots. It lives with deep deprivation, being one of the UK's most deprived regions (Ladywood Constituency). The economic challenges Handsworth's residents face have been compounded by the pandemic. Simple tasks such as purchasing groceries, commuting and going for a government-mandated walk have become perilous in its crowded streets.
Such varied and distinct cultural behaviours ‘locked down’ together are prone to clash and create friction, yet they also give way to new types of co-operation as citizens adapt and find new ways to continue their daily routines.
During this time, racial injustice has been elevated to national consciousness, due to the work of the Black Lives Matter movement. A large proportion of Handsworth's residents are Black, and, this being paired with the statistic that BAME groups are more ‘at risk’ of Covid-19, has caused agitation felt by many in the community.
The illustrations in this series seek to piece together the sights from a walk in Handsworth and evoke a sense of what daily life feels like during the Covid-19 pandemic.