What is compassion? What does the word mean to you? Is it the same as empathy or care? Is it a virtue, even a moral force given our almost unceasing concern for the wellbeing of others? Are you compassionate? If so, how and why? Is London compassionate? How does compassion shape Brent as a borough, and Willesden Green as a community? What stories can we craft and share about everyday acts of compassion? Will compassion save us?
A Festival of Compassion responds to questions such as these by way of exhibitions, workshops, oral histories, object-based learning, and other activities, encouraging co-production, co-curation, and further collaborative ways of working together to make the thinkable/imaginable [QUESTION: either/or?] a reality.
Exhibitions
Monday 24 March from 6pm - 8pm
Opening ‘A Murmuration III: A Festival of Compassion’, a group exhibition offering a collective peak at the rich diversity of activities unfolding during the Festival.
Tuesday 25 March at 6pm
Opening of ‘Brent New Stories - Growing Roots in Kilburn’, an exhibition developed in collaboration with local residents, weaving stories on the living history of Kilburn.
Friday 28 March at 6pm
Opening of ‘Traces’, a project exploring the often unnoticed but deeply human stories of lost property on London buses, co-created with passengers, drivers, and TFL employees.
Tuesday 1 April at 6pm
Opening of ‘Boats Bring Bonds’, a thought experiment reimagining Brent’s forgotten waterways as an active transport network thereby shaping alternative futures for the borough’s rich heritage.
Saturday 5 April at 6pm
Opening of ‘Little Voices, Big Connections’, an interactive exhibition engaging children in art making as a means of self-exploration and community connection.
Tuesday 10 April at 6pm
Opening of ‘The New Compassion’, a project foregrounding the impact our polycrisis (war and conflict, social injustice, environmental crisis, etc.) is having on our wellbeing, and suggesting ways we might begin to heal.
'A Murmuration III: A Festival of Compassion’ is co-curated by students on the MA Art Education, Culture & Practice, the MA Museums and Galleries in Education, and the MA Cultural Heritage Studies at UCL.
Acknowledgements
Our thanks to: all the staff at Willesden Green Library and Gallery; Mish Aeld; Brent Curate; Metroland Cultures; London Museum, K2K; Dom Sergi; Teresa Cisneros; Andy Ash; staff in Art, Design & Museology at Ucl Institute of Education, especially Ross Head and Sophie Huckfield; and our heartfelt gratitude to all those that have participated in these projects by way of interviews, workshops, and assisted in our field research.