For Exhibition 10 The Notice Board welcomes Lincolnshire born artist and curator Alice White and Uffington resident Cecily Genever-Jones. Both have responded to a call-out to show during lockdown 1. Their work directly connects with the Notice Board’s aims and theme but also references the pandemic. Cecily imagines a new world or is it an old one currently lost? Alice amplifies languages spoken across the UK pertinent not only to Brexit but also our reliance on culturally diverse residents to keep us both serviced and alive.
Alice says: Do you speak my language? (DYSML?) loudly celebrates the many languages spoken everyday across the UK. It started as a protest against a racist sign titled’ Happy Brexit Day’ that was put up in some communal hallways on 31stJanuary 2020. The inward-looking, disheartening and polarising sign demanded that residents speak the ‘Queen’s English’ or leave. In response I have invited friends and colleagues to translate this phrase into their mother tongue or a language that they speak. I turn these translations into prints, which becomes an artwork incorporating them all. Participants are invited to share the project with a friend who speaks a language different from their own to further amplify our collective voices. So far languages include: Chinese, English, French, Greek, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Welsh. If you would like to participate in the project, please email: alicetfwhite.com
Cecily says: Peak Island is a bit like Uffington, it’s a village. But it’s above the clouds. At the bottom you can see the clouds. In the corner you look through the clouds to see the normal world. In Peak Island you don’t have to social distance, people are meeting up. These are all my friend’s houses. My house is in the middle, there is the farm and sheep and some ducks too. Some houses are true, Henry’s house has a football net. The 2 people in the picture are me and Penelope. We are best friends, we are holding hands and meeting for a chat. In Peak Island during the days we go to each other’s houses, where we run around and have fun. There is no parental guidance and you can wander where you like – that’s why it’s called The Lands of the Free. You get to eat the same food as England, but it’s all sweet. You get a midday nap of 2 hours and the night time is also the day time. The world keeps itself light. Peak Island is important. It’s like a parent in some ways, it gives you a lesson to be kind, and to be a good person. The flag I designed is Peak Islands. It shows that some of us are different but the same too – we all have feelings. The pink part shows the sameness underneath, the rest shows our difference. Cecily is aged 8 and attends Copthill School. She loves animals and her favourite thing to do is play outside with her guinea pigs and be with her friends.