St Clare Hospice teams up with Parndon Mill arts gallery to engage ethnic minority communities in ‘unspoken conversation’ about death, dying and loss

A collaborative arts project has been launched to engage members of ethnic minorities in West Essex and East Herts in the ‘unspoken conversation’ about death, dying and loss.

A series of creative art workshops is being run by Hastingwood-based St Clare Hospice in partnership with Harlow’s Parndon Mill. Each one is designed to explore the personal and cultural responses to bereavement within ethnically diverse communities locally.

Taking place in Parndon Mill’s project space and artists’ studio in Harlow, the workshops offer the chance to get creative using a variety of mediums, from embroidery and glasswork to papier-mâché and print and many more.

The sessions will be led by local and international artists, including designer Sumithra Alkegamage, glass blower Jon Lewis, glass and ceramic artist Ewa Warzyniak, sculptor Stephen Gatonye and fine artist and poet Suman Gujral.

All artwork created as part of ‘The Unspoken Conversation’ project will be showcased in a public exhibition at Parndon Mill Gallery, from Sunday October 13 to Wednesday November 20.

St Clare Hospice project lead Chloe Rich said: “St Clare’s catchment area, which spans the whole of West Essex and its border with East Herts, is richly diverse with people from many different faiths and ethnicities, particularly in Harlow, where this project will be based.

“However, as a hospice we know there are significant cultural and language barriers that prevent many people from ethnic minority groups from accessing our services, care and support.

“The Unspoken Conversation project is therefore an invaluable opportunity for us to strengthen existing relationships – and develop new ones – with minority ethnic groups locally, whilst also enabling many more people to open up, express and publicly share (and exhibit!) their own thoughts and feelings about death, dying and loss and what it means to them in new and creative ways.”

Artist Suman Gujral, who is overseeing the project at Parndon Mill, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with St Clare on this wonderful project. We look forward to welcoming people here for them to talk and create in a relaxed, supportive environment.”

The Unspoken Conversation has been funded by Hospice UK’s Dying Matters community grants programme, which funds new and creative ways to spark important conversations in communities across the UK.

Full details about all the workshops, including how to sign up to attend, can be found at stclarehospice.org.uk/the-unspoken-conversation. You can also email Chloe Rich at chloe.rich@stclarehospice.org.uk.