We were proud to launch our latest exhibition Traces, a dynamic exhibition of wheelchair printing and giant mark making created by children and young people from Ash Field Academy school in Leicester. Their large-scale artworks are installed alongside the work of five ground breaking, contemporary artists, each invited for their potential to inspire young people, to explore beyond the perceived limitations of disability.
In 2023 creative producers Pasha Kincaid and Morgan Stockton of Seeds and Dreams with a number of art activists worked with Ash Field Academy, a school for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Leicester, to facilitate intensive sessions of wheelchair printing and giant mark-making with wheelchair users from ages 4-19.
A selection of the dynamic wheelchair prints created by the children are shown alongside the works of contemporary artists Sue Austin, Daryl Beeton, Laura Dajao, Aminder Virdee and Joseph Wilk. The artists were selected to inspire young people to go beyond the perceived limitations of disability and were asked to offer work in response to the children’s creative processes to explore the concept of traces.
The exhibition includes new commissions, co-produced projects and several significant loans such as the film and stills from Sue Austin’s ‘Creating the Spectacle’, an immersive dance performance and underwater exploration which the artist undertook using her uniquely modified wheelchair. Daryl Beeton and Laura Dajao will be performing a dynamic duet as part of the Traces programme on April 7, which will be filmed and added into the exhibition. Aminder Virdee presented a newly commissioned sculptural piece and Joseph Wilk worked with local wheelchair users to explore movement within the gallery space, to create a collaborative digital drawing that is projected in the space.
Over 150 guests gathered for a speech by Andrew Fletcher, Attenborough Arts Centre Director, Pasha Kincaid and Morgan Stockton. They all gave thanks to the artists and children they worked with to bring the exhibtion together, reflecting on the joy of collaboration and the possibilities it opens up.
Traces is open to explore for free until 18 May 2024. To learn more, visit our What’s On page.
