For the past couple of months Artist Sophia Moffa, founder of The Travellers Tree CIC, has been leading a project where local asylum seekers source clay to build miniature clay homes. This collaborative sustainable project looks at the meaning of home for those in a temporary state of limbo. The participants have been on a journey of sourcing and digging up clay, moulding and shaping and finally firing it in a pit. The result is beautiful and can be seen at New Art Gallery Walsall.
On Saturday 24 June members of the public were invited to sign up to a free clay workshop led by Sophia Moffa to help them explore the meaning of home. Some of the participants who took part in the longer-term project were also present to share their experiences with members of the general public.
From Soil, to Clay, to Home is currently part of The Class Act collection which explores identities, inherited characteristics, personality traits, beliefs and life experiences. It launched on 1 July and will be on until June 2024. The clay homes can be found on the second floor of the New Art Gallery in Walsall.
Forming part of
Co-created projects
This project is part of Amal’s Co-created Projects programme. We support high-quality arts projects that are co-created by Muslims and creative professionals and showcased within the wider community. These provide Muslims with opportunities they would not otherwise have to express their creativity in ways that matter to them. By enabling experimentation between Muslim artists and communities, these projects model ways in which the UK’s arts and cultural mainstream could more fully and authentically represent and engage Muslims as individuals and communities.
