Event contact Alison Honnor

Esther Johnson (Reader Media Arts) and Debbie Ballin (Senior Lecturer Film and Media) will present work from their on-going collaborative research project Echoes of Protest. This project aims to understand the role protest can play in the politicisation of children and the long-term impact of its aftermath on their lives. The first stage of this research is an exhibition titled: A share of a pensioner’s Christmas ‘Bonus’ which premiered at the People’s History Museum Manchester in Dec 2015 – Jan 2016.

During the 1984 – 85 Miners’ Strike a nationwide appeal invited pensioners to give up their £10 Christmas heating bonus in support of the striking miners. Hundred’s of pounds worth of bonuses were donated to support this cause.

It’s Christmas 1984. Sam, Gayle, Jayne and Craig are the children of striking miners.

This is the story of how acts of generosity by total strangers made Christmas possible for them that year, and what it was like for them to grow up in the shadow of the Miners’ Strike. Through the use of oral history interviews this exhibition bears witness to these untold stories. It includes artifacts from the People’s History Museum archive, alongside an audio documentary and photographic series of personal memorabilia from the strike.

This seminar will discuss the practice led process utilised in this exhibition.

Further information is available at the Echoes of Protest website.

The Art and Design Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University and The People’s History Museum have supported the development of this research.