Thanks to The University of Lincoln who made this nice short film summary of the Telling Our Stories community projects who worked together last year. It includes some snippets of My Ancestors were French, as well as the other project teams we met at the workshops in Lincoln. Good to see how everyone’s ideas came to fruition.
Visit our website: Rich & Lou Duffy-Howard
You’ve just gotta watch this, superb work created for Hull Refugee Week…
Here are some of the beautiful poems and illustrations created at our My Ancestors were French workshop at Creator College for Refugee Week.
Click on an image to enlarge and scroll through…
Goodbye Loved Ones
I’m leaving now
I’m going away
To my lovers
I can’t stay
It’s not you
It’s just me
A new country
That is me
A fresh start
A new life
A different culture
Will shine bright
Goodbye my friends
I’m going now
A new life
I start now
My name is Lily
I’m a flower
With flower power
With my personality
I shine bright
Share my story
It’s my life
In new places
I share life
What I have
Is my personality
I am polite
In new places
What I offer
It’s my name
Lily the flower
By Lilybeth Goodwillie
Anne’s evocative poem from our Refugee Week workshop at Creator College spans a year in a life…
Sink or Swim
I’ve no choice
They are shooting
Jump in now
Water so cold
Border far away
I am frightened
Please save me
Here’s the shore
Gasping, moaning, exhausted
A new future
One of happiness?
One year later
No – I am hated
They despise me
Take their jobs?
Take their girls?
It’s not true
I need help
To feel safe
To learn English
Get a job
Bring my family
All I need –
A peaceful life.
By Anne MacNamara
We had a fabulous session at the My Ancestors Were French Exhibition, Workshop and Gig for Refugee Week on Wednesday. A big thanks to Alan, Mal and Sally at Hull’s Creator College for hosting the event.
There were some amazing and very evocative poems and art produced in the workshop that Louise & Amanda ran in the afternoon. Adam Wilson is the artist in residence at Creator College. His is not an illustrated poem, but a poemed illustration, ‘Stranger’.
Strangeness made Stranger
Language gap broadened
Nuances subtly lost
Meaning crisply missed
There were some amazing poems and art created at our My Ancestors were French workshop for Hull Refugee Week at Creator College yesterday. These guys Craig and Joe produced an awesome human beatbox rap. Keep an eye on the blog for more photos, work produced and film coming soon.
Look what arrived in the post this morning! It’s a lovely letter from our project friends in Historic Huguenot Street, New Paltz, New York State.
Have a look at their interesting website to find out all about them. Wouldn’t it be great to go and visit them sometime!
You can also follow the 19th century day to day diaries of Julia Lawrence Hasbrouk on Susan Stessin’s blog. The Hasbrouk family were one of the original twelve Huguenot families who patented the village of New Paltz in 1677, and records can trace the prominent Lawrence family to Hertsfordshire, England as early as 1580.
Newsflash – Refugee Week Concert and Workshop
Wednesday June 19th 2013 at Creator College, King Edward Street, Hull, UK, as part of Refugee Week – My Ancestors were French – Auricula Suite Performance (7.30 pm) and My Ancestors were French Workshop (2.30 pm)
All welcome, come and join us!
Watch this space for more details …
Here we are, we’re getting ready for our My Ancestors were French celebration event tomorrow, May 4th.
We’ll be setting up the venue, Willerby Methodist Hall, from 2pm and meeting up with the team from Lincoln University who are coming to film it.
The event kicks off at 4 pm when Amanda and Louise will be delivering a workshop, and then from 6 pm the exhibition will be open. There will be viewings of Quentin’s project films and Richard’s photos will be displayed with all the poetry, art and stories created at the workshops.
There will be an auricula theatre and flower display with Abby’s illustration and the Huguenot painting. To top off the day there will be a live performance of The Auricula Suite starting at 7.30 pm.
Thanks to all who have been to our workshops. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone. There was lots of excellent conversation and the amount of superb work created – poems, stories, drawing – was amazing.
Quentin made this short film of Amanda and Louise and the participants at the Willerby Methodist Hall session, so you can see what went on.
We used music, poetry, local film and storytelling to explore the themes of the My Ancestors were French project. It was easygoing, no pressure and we had lots of good discussion over tea and biscuits.
It’s all part of the Heritage Lottery Funded All Our Stories scheme, in support of BBC2’s ‘The Great British Story – A People’s History’
Work produced at the workshops are displayed at the project exhibitions celebrating the stories uncovered and work created for the ‘My Ancestors were French’ project.
Richard took the photos.
Here we are, the My Ancestors were French team, Richard, Louise, Quentin and Amanda at National Trust Calke Abbey, the home of the oldest surviving Auricula Theatre in England.
It was an amazing venue was for The Auricula Suite concert. A beautiful setting, superb acoustics, a sunny day at last, and a lovely audience. Thanks to all.
Abby Wright has created this beautiful brand new contemporary illustration especially for our project. it is inspired by Millais’ painting, which we show and use at the MAWF workshops and events.
A Huguenot, on St. Bartholomew’s Day, (1852) by John Everett Millais. Set in the French Wars of Religion, the young woman is trying to make her lover wear the white scarf which would protect him from persecution and possibly death. He, despite his love for her refuses to renounce his faith.
Painted in Victorian England, the picture uses The Language of Flowers, showing Canterbury Bells and Nasturtiums to express faith and patriotism.
“They wrap each other up, but also pull in opposite directions” S.P Casteras
A story of love, loss and faith
Abby Wright is creating a brand new contemporary illustration, inspired by Millais’ painting which we will show and use at the MAWF workshops. Keep an eye on the website, we will unveil it very soon now. In the meantime, here is Millais’ painting…
A Huguenot, on St. Bartholomew’s Day, (1852) by John Everett Millais. Set in the French Wars of Religion, the young woman is trying to make her lover wear the white scarf which would protect him from persecution and possibly death. He, despite his love for her refuses to renounce his faith.
Painted in Victorian England, the picture uses The Language of Flowers, showing Canterbury Bells and Nasturtiums to express faith and patriotism.
“They wrap each other up, but also pull in opposite directions” S.P Casteras
The lovers in our story, Valentina and Raoul, have been torn apart when Valentina escapes from persecution during the Reformation and comes to live in England, while Raoul stands by his faith and stays in France, facing an uncertain future, possibly death.
This song is Raoul’s story. He is so sad now that his lover has gone, but looks up at the heavens and feels comfort in knowing that wherever she is, she’ll look up and see the same moon, the same stars…
…The Same Sky
I don’t know where you are
But I guess where you’ll be
Under the same sky as me
Where you’ll be, well I guess
‘Cross the cold northern sea
Follow the same star as me
Now you’re gone
In a strange land you are
But not alone refugee
Under the same moon as me
Where you’ll be, well I guess
But I know what you’ll see
See the same sky as me
Now you’re gone
I don’t know where you are
But I guess where you’ll be
Under the same sky as me
Where you’ll be, well I guess
Growing flowers for me…
I feel the same sun!
Under the same sky
© 2012 Duffy-Howard
My Ancestors Were French 
You must be logged in to post a comment.