The Refuge Manifesto

This short animated film (2015) was made during ‘Art House’ an Arts Council funded participatory art project for women affected by domestic/sexual abuse. This project was led by myself, and facilitated by experienced participatory artists Nicci Wonnacott and filmmaker Josh Gaunt.

This project developed out of my artist residency at Exeter’s Women’s Refuge in 2013-2014 and the closure of the refuge in 2014 after 28 years. In this film we find out what refuge means for some of us, and find that these are universal.

Through this project we sought to find out what refuge is – not just in the bricks and mortar sense but for individual women still in long recovery from difficult times. We worked with a really brilliant small team of artist-facilitators, volunteers and women over 10 weeks, exploring their own creativity and making an animated film about what refuge means to them. My aim was to ensure the project and its film were seen by the right people to ignite local debate around services for women affected by domestic abuse. The group were visited by a public health commissioner from Devon County Council as well as a researcher from University of Exeter.

I was keen to show our visitors how arts can work for change, in this case, the nurturing of personal development and resilience, as well as provide a voice for those unheard through the film we made. Rather than facilitating or making my own work, I concentrated on bringing people together – and ensuring a strong and positive, safe, friendly and creative experience. And, ensuring that the film would get listened to by some of the ‘right’ people.