Over the past 8 months I’ve had a dream job working as a creative and mentor on Our Story; an intergenerational project celebrating the lives and experiences of trans and gender diverse people in Nottinghamshire, which is also where I was born!
Some of the team at the launch party - Nottinghamshire Archives
I worked with LGBTQ+ young people and their allies from Mansfield, delivering photography workshops as part of a training programme, which also included oral history, film-making, exhibition design, graphic design and podcasting, some of which I documented - a nice way to experience other elements of the creative process.
Following this, the young people used their new skills to record the oral histories of older trans and gender-diverse people across Nottinghamshire, locations included the Pride shop, a cafe, pub, museum, cinema, library, university… so it was a great way to explore the city too. They interviewed them on film and shot their portraits, capturing personal experiences; stories of identity, moments of resistance, joy and community.
Portraits of the contributors, shot by the young creatives.
My role here was to support the young creatives in making portraits with the contributors. Working as a team, I also listened in on the interviews, which I found really energising; hearing about their lives, as well as from how much we were ALL gaining from this experience - we were so appreciative of their participation and generosity, and they were grateful to us for inviting them to share and for listening with such care.
The young creatives also shadowed professional directors, actors and sound designers during the recording process of a series of audio plays which were created in response to the oral histories by acclaimed playwrights Chris Bush, Jo Clifford, Mika Onyx Johnson, Lettie Precious, and Luke Skilbeck. The plays were directed by Jo Tyabji, with sound design by Louis Blatherwick and Joseff Harris.
The audio plays are available exclusively as part of the Our Story touring exhibition.
I attended and photographed the launch at Nottinghamshire Archives and it was so lovely seeing the contributors and young creatives enjoying the work they had created together. One of my favourite things about this project has been the intergenerational aspect and how we’ve all learnt so much from each other.
“Being a part of this project, it has definitely helped with my transition. It has helped me be more confident in myself, and helped me realise that I can speak to other trans people and not be too shy or scared to talk to them. It’s definitely helped me figure out who I am a lot more, have a sense in the community, and I know that I am not alone.” (young creative)
During the launch event, there was a reading by Mika Onyx Johnson who also wrote one of the plays.
“… Our story is archiving as resistance, resisting against resistance. The resistance that we resist is made up of people.
People resisting against themselves.
They block the flow that resides inside them.
The flow of change.
People resist because they live in fear.
How can we keep flowing even when we feel resisted against?
Because if we stop our own flow we become just like them.
Blocked.
Sometimes we might have to accept their resistance to allow this flow to continue, so that our story can have a new chapter.” (Excerpt from Mika’s reading at the launch)
Last time I was with Mika, they were posing with pineapples for me, shooting for People Like Us, so I was thrilled to find they were part of this project along with Luke Skilbeck (another of the playwrights) and Leo Welton (graphic design) also of People Like Us!
Mika Onyx Johnson - Our Story Exhibition Reflection Piece - Marsha's eye
“In this iconic image of Marsha the flowers appear to be blossoming from her head, she is like the stem here, rooted in the ground and these flowers release seeds she had been sewing, we are these flowers sewn from her seeds, we too will grow many times over and when it's time for our cycle to end we will release our final petals, the seeds will drop and so it continues. If we be like nature and deeply listen we will remember that change is always inevitable, seasons come and go continuously, there is no stopping this flow, even as the earth is struggling it still finds a way to keep going, we are part of this ecosystem, living archives blossoming, blooming, gently releasing and leaving parts of ourselves behind so that we may feed the next cycle and so on and on we will go.” (Last paragraph from Mika’s reading at the launch)
The recorded interviews and accompanying material have been deposited in Nottinghamshire Archives so that future generations can access them. At a time when trans and gender-diverse communities are increasingly misrepresented or erased, this project offers space for visibility and pride. Our Story will help ensure these vital voices are not just heard today, but also remembered tomorrow.
You can sample the interviews here: Al, Alex, Guy, Kate, Laurie, Noah, Onni, Patricia, Sarissa, Shell
Our Story was produced by Fifth Word, in partnership with Nottinghamshire Archives. In collaboration with Mansfield Museum, and with support from MyPlace at Westfield Folkhouse Young People’s Centre, East Mids Transgender Network, East Midlands Oral History Archives and Loughborough University.
It’s been an absolute joy to work with such a powerful and well organised team - Rosalie Spring - Producer, Olivia Hayes - Wellbeing, Frit Tam - Film-maker and Mentor, Roxanna Barry - Secondary Film-maker, Rumi Dahar - Oral Historian, Stephanie Coley - Installation Artist, Leo Welton - Graphic Design.