Gillian Allard

Refugee Stories was commissioned by the PhotoEast Festival in 2018 - the theme for the festival was 'Belonging'.  We liaised with Suffolk Refugee Support and I was invited to regularly attend social events and ESOL groups.  By using my pop-up photo-studio, I developed a series of portraits alongside the group who generously shared their personal experiences.  I learned how to upscale and directly bond each photograph onto OSB wood (a material often used in transportation and rebuilding) finishing with graffiti paints. After discussion and reflection, each person wrote a brief testimony, directly onto the artwork using acrylic pens.   

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