Mixed Heritage Women Sharing their Extraordinary Stories of Identity

What is Stir?

Stir is a platform created by Friction Arts, for women of mixed heritage, to share the joys and complexities of their identities and the journeys that shaped them.  As part of a wider community journalism project in Digbeth,  Friction Arts is capturing the voices of people telling us their stories of heritage, community activism and migration, which will feature in Birmingham Public Library’s archive. Friction Arts will also be working in collaboration with an award winning female portrait artist to create a series of extraordinary Stir visual portraits reflecting these extraordinary women and their lives. 

How will Stir work?

During March Lead Artist Sarah Kaur will lead a series of one to one interviews inviting Stir participants to share how they experience their multiple ethnicities, and how these experiences shaped their identities. These interviews will last around 1 hr and can take place in the home, or at our studio ‘The Edge’.

Stir participants will also be offered the opportunity to take part in a group Zoom meeting to share their ideas for the series of portraits that will accompany the stories – contributing thinking around themes, sets and costumes.

In early April, a small group of Stir participants will meet at our Studio at the Edge to have their portrait realised by an award winning female portrait artist, to create a series of extraordinary visual portraits sensitively reflecting the complexities of mixed heritage identity.

About Friction Arts

Friction Arts has a history of over thirty years working creatively across Birmingham with experience in oral history across different digital formats including Augmented Reality, video, recordings, montage and animation. We are passionate about heritage, interviewing, oral histories and gathering awkward as well as historic stories.