Lockdown Mothers - A creative archive

MANCHESTER, U.K. - Dec. 1, 2021 - PRLog -- After taking part in the 'Crossing Sectors' programme, at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool - a training programme which supports 'socially-engaged' photographers and introduces them to cross-sector organisations, Rebecca Lupton temporarily transformed www.the-mothers.co.uk  (a project she had been running for 10 years), into a participatory (pilot) art project.

The mothers who took part were located all over the world - some were artists and some had never taken part in creative activities before. For 6 months the pilot project ran, and in this time participants were encouraged to document what it was like to be a mother in lockdown using photography, words, drawings and mixed media. On Instagram they tagged their posts with #motherslifeinlockdown

Laura Nathan, a participant from the pilot project said, "Taking part in the pilot project provided a much welcomed opportunity to connect with like minded creative mothers who were also navigating their way through very surreal and often overwhelming  times. The project gave me a focus and helped reignite a personal desire to set aside time to be creative again. I gained more than I imagined and am proud of the collective archive we created"

Regarding the socially-engaged project, Lupton said, "I've loved introducing the project participants to the world of artist/mothers. Women who had never thought themselves creative have come away from the project with a new way of seeing and experiencing the world. It's been inspirational for me as the artist/facilitator too. Creative practice can be such a valuable tool for processing difficult experiences, and I think everyone who has taken part has realised this."

lockdownmothers.com is an archive of the work created by mothers during the covid-19 pandemic. The Mothers Project CIC brought women together from all over the world through *socially-engaged art. The work, exhibited by mothers on the site, comes from celebrated practicing artists (Sally Butcher, Helen Sargeant, Tara Carpenter, Cissa Borges, Dawn Yow, Yuki SAI, Nikki Davidson-Bowman, Jai Chuhan, Barbara Phillipp, Adanna Onuekwusi, Shweta Bist, Mahreen Zuberi, Kathryn Rodrigues), and also from women who had never previously engaged with art before.

Barbara Philipp, one of the artists who has contributed to the archive from The Netherlands says, "This project means an incredible lot for me and the whole community of mothers in arts. "

*Socially Engaged Art is when an artist works within a community and collaborates/gives them the 'tools' to create art themselves.