I believe that, in life, timing is very important. Whether it is of the good variety or the bad. Unfortunately my visit to the Projecting Grief exhibition fell into the latter category. I have been in bitter dispute with my housing association since well before the pandemic and the strain had taken its toll on my mental wellbeing. The day before the opening of this exhibition we reached a resolution which was far more advantageous to me than I could have dared hope. The result was that, living alone and having no one to share the good news with, I was absolutely buzzing. Not the best aura to exude at an installation dealing with the subject of grief. Had it been a couple of days before it would have suited my mood perfectly. What made things worse was that the two ladies who had created the event had been so affected by the losses of loved ones that it caused them to do so as an act of catharsis. All I can do is apologise if my lack of gravitas appeared to even hint at my being insensitive to their feelings. Ironically it had the effect of making the experience of the event all the more profound.
The two women in question are Jo Ritchie, a Leeds-based photographer, who I have had the pleasure of meeting in the past where we were both working on assignments, and Laura McDonagh.
Jo lost her brother to suicide in 2017 as a direct result of his gambling addiction so looked to contact others who had used creativity for solace, and took their portraits. In 2019 she teamed up with writer, Faye Dawson, who was also grieving, to write their stories. Faye took a step back in 2022 and Laura, whose mother passed away suddenly in 2019, took over the writing role.
Jo’s parents, Liz and Charles Ritchie, co-founded the charity Gambling With Lives, and, as a result of their work, they were both awarded the MBE in the 2023 New Years Honours List.
Photograph by Stan Graham
Projecting Grief began as an on-line gallery exploring the profound connection between loss, creativity and healing. This physical exhibition invites viewers to immerse themselves in the real life stories of grief and art. The whole project is now presented in partnership with Leeds International festival of Ideas 2023.
The photographs have a precis of the sitters’ stories but, by scanning a QR code, the full version can be accessed, thus preventing the viewer from being overwhelmed by text to the point of distraction from the images.
This is not merely a collection of other people’s stories but a chance for visitors to take part in mindful workshops, which will be running over each weekend of the exhibition as a practical exercise to assist those who have suffered loss in gaining solace through creativity.
The Schedule of Add-ons is:
Saturday, 19th August 11.00am – 1.00pm Paper Flowers Workshop with Moni Escobar
Moni Escobar
Sunday, 20th August 1.00pm – 3.00pm Creative Writing Workshop with Freya Bromley
Freya Bromley
Saturday, 26th August 11.00am – 1.30pm Embroidery Workshop with Hayley Mills-Styles
Hayley Mills-Styles
Sunday, 27th August 1.00pm Spoken Word performance by Master Samuel
Projecting Grief is at Victoria Gate in the unit next to the Gelato Stand and runs until 27th August.
For more details of the exhibition and how to take part in the add-ons please go to https://leedsinternationalfestival.com/event/projecting-grief-x-lifi-exhibition/
An associated event named How Do We Talk About Grief is a part of Leeds International Festival of Ideas at Leeds Playhouse and features, among others, Prue Leith and Will Young. For details and tickets please go to https://leedsinternationalfestival.com/panel/how-do-we-talk-about-grief/ from where you can also access the other events at the festival
Should you not be able to make it to Leeds, the on-line version of Projecting Grief can be found at https://www.projectinggrief.com just click on a portrait for the story.
The lengthy bus ride home allowed me to contemplate what I had just seen and felt. Despite both my parents and several friends having died, I have never experienced what I would call grief, so I had trouble in empathising with the subjects, although obviously sympathising with them. I can only think that I am too logical when it comes to death, as were my parents. We had discussed bereavement after my grandmother’s death when I was in my early twenties and they said that, when their time came, I should accept the fact that nothing I could do would bring them back, so I shouldn’t waste my time trying. Their aim when bringing me into the world was not that my life should cease when theirs did, but should develop and move forward, contributing what I could to society on my way. They didn’t want me to expunge them from my memory, only to keep things in perspective. Although my father died in 1982 and my mother in 2010, I still think of them on a regular basis, but when I do it usually elicits a smile and a warm glow. I only wish that I could take that feeling, bottle it and give a hearty swig to those who are affected so negatively by their loss.
Unless otherwise stated, all photographs provided by Chapter81
Feature image is of Laura McDonagh, left, and Jo Ritchie.
Tyke It To The Limit 