Estrangement Workshops
This entry is about my on-going project (be)longing which looks at themes of race, heritage, transracial adoption and estrangement. Click here to read all of the posts on this topic.
Before a group that I am facilitating is meeting for the first time I’m filled with curiosity: about what people will bring to the space, the challenges that may arise, how the group dynamics begin to form etc. A few weeks ago I started running a series of workshops at QUEERCIRCLE creatively exploring family estrangement for queer people. I noticed that I was feeling more nervous than usual before the first session.
In the approaching weeks I kept mulling over my own experiences over the decades, thinking about how stigmatised and stigmatising it is to be estranged from family. How little it is spoken about, acknowledged, or how little support is offered to people, particularly in light of how complex and painful estrangement can be for queer people.
I also felt a bit apprehensive about the sessions feeling too heavy or a trauma dumping ground. Estrangement can be painful, yes, but also a positive way of reclaiming power and enabling us to make decisions about who we do want in our lives.
Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about at all. In the first two sessions the group have been so generous in their reflections and support of one another. Whilst we’ve shared some difficult stories there’s also been a lot of laughter and joy in the room.
In the first session we spent time creating life maps focusing on the theme of ‘Roots & Routes’ - thinking about who and where we came from, creatively mapping out past, present & future.
In the second session it was gorgeous to be surrounded by Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases UK exhibition - beautiful photographs of Black queer women, non-binary, and trans members of the UK community.
Zanele Muholi’s Faces and Phases UK at QUEERCIRCLE
In that session we focused on objects from the past that held significance for us in our estrangement stories. It was great to see a group of adults excited to play with air drying clay, creating an array of gorgeous objects that hold so much of us and others.
Thank you to everyone that has joined so far and shared their experiences - and I’m looking forward to the rest of the sessions throughout autumn/winter.
These sessions are funded by Arts Council England and QUEERCIRCLE.