People of Pullars Exhibition

People of Pullars was an exhibition held at Perth Museum and Art Gallery in 2022, exploring the community around Pullar House in Perth, Scotland.
Initially, with this project, I was working as a Creative Practitioner at Creative Catalyst, a social enterprise working with young people and the local community. We were asked by Perth Museum to work with our young people to create some artwork around the history of Pullar House, an old dye factory, and currently a local council building. I led the project working with the young people, allowing them to have full creative control. Because of this, it was decided that the actual theme they wanted to work on was protest art, as it fitted with the history and with other works being included in the exhibition, such as a historical protest tapestry.

Whilst working alongside young people and facilitating workshops to show different media ideas for the work they were making I also started my own mini-project. By creating this mini project alongside what they were creating, I was leading by example to show them that what they think matters and that they're allowed to express that to their fullest if they want to. I also wanted to show the young people that in art you can be as explicit, personal, or vague as you want to be.
When thinking about protest I started to think about what that means to me, a queer, nonbinary, neurodivergent person. Protests are deep-rooted in the LGBTQI+ community, from Stonewall, Act Up, and the current ongoing protests around transphobic rhetoric in the media. As a community, we are constantly having to fight to show the fact we're human, so I decided to create some work to show my humanity.
It was exhibited as a timeline, as for me it was a timeline of my feelings. The initial anger was uncomfortable and raw, either tear-filled and quiet, or loud and fierce. Following this was intense apathy, seeing nothing change and having nothing to say about it anymore. You can't argue. The sorrow and shame, of knowing how unwanted you are whilst being seen as a political movement for just being you. I was showing my feelings, and the effect of current rhetoric, trying to shine a light on the fact that this has consequences. Speaking and acting in ways damaging to the community has consequences on the actual, live, feeling, humans.

Note: The artist statement is under Cai Hanna, a chosen name at the time. I now go by Caitlin.