The open arms
26 September 2020 – 23 October 2020
The Open Arms ran from 26 September 2020 – 23 October 2020.
This outdoor exhibition was a direct response to the ongoing Covid pandemic.
Inspired by our Folk Art Collection, Birmingham based street artist, Foka Wolf, created eight signs across our parkland, exploring humour and its connection to kindness.
About the
exhibition
The work was influenced by local people’s experience of social solidarity during lockdown and the role of humour as a tool for empathy and resilience. In August 2020 we hosted two online sessions of The Laughter Café with Janice Connolly BEM, Artistic Director of Women & Theatre (as well as starring in shows such as Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights, Janice is also known for her alter-ego, Birmingham icon and Britain’s Got Talent star, Mrs Barbara Nice). Local people joined Janice for two hours to share and discuss what made them laugh in lockdown. Everything that came out of The Laughter Café was then used to fuel Foka Wolf’s new works of art.
The commission came out of a collaboration with leading participatory arts organisation People United, who investigate kindness in the arts and its influence on prosocial behaviour.
Foka said: “I am overjoyed to have worked on a commission with People United and Compton Verney. Compton Verney was one of the first galleries I ever visited as a teenager, so I have fond memories of it. People United have been involved in some fantastic projects over the last decade that bring happiness and kindness through the use of art, and that to me is what art is all about.”
