Aurora Trinity Collective

2021 – 2023

Overview

Aurora Trinity Collective is an artist led group committed to creating a culture of inclusivity and creativity, who value the importance of kindness and care.

They work together to share textile and art-based practice and skills in a safe and positive space. The collective is an ever evolving and changing group of incredible women who share their cultures, ideas and stories with one another. They began their work and remain an important part of the Trinity Centre in Cardiff.

Artes Mundi and Aurora Trinity Collective began working together in 2018 alongside Artes Mundi 8.

Images

Three women are knelt on the floor, embroidering and stitching into a piece of fabric.

Hands wearing yellow washing up gloves is pulling out tie dyed fabric from a green plastic tub with water in it.

Embroidery frames of different sizes displaying painted fabric.

A colourful leaf design is painted on to white fabric.

A persons hand is squeezing gold paint from a tube directly on to white fabric, creating a pretty, golden floral design.

Multiple felted balls are hanging from a tree.

Women dancing with sheets of fabric inside a church.

Around the edge of a table you can see that people are sat painting on white pieces of A4 paper. On the table are plenty of watercolour paints and palettes.

Children and adults are inside a workshop room. On the glass walls, either side of the entrance are green posters. Above the entrance an illuminated sign says, 'ARCADE'.

A vibrant street parade with people in colorful clothes, some on rollerskates, carrying large abstract puppets made of mixed paper materials and textiles.

Three stacks of tote bags in green, blue, and black, each printed with the text "Be strong, Be confident, Be energised, Be joyful, Be bold, Be happy, You Belong".

In the spring of 2020, the co-creative work between Aurora Trinity Collective Members and Artes Mundi began to evolve and explore ways to embed care and share decision making in their relationship. They met for regular online sessions and discussions. Throughout the year their conversations began to look at ways in which Artes Mundi could provide both practical and creative support to the collective as a whole and to them as individual members.

The collective decides on the skills they share with one another, which means no two days are ever the same. Their work is always necessary and connected to their own lived experiences. One week they are making protective face masks for themselves and their families, and the next they are sharing recipes they love and cook them together. Sometimes they are learning how to sew, crochet or knit and sometimes they are learning how to do face massages as an act of self care.

The Aurora Phenomenon

‘The Aurora Phenomenon’ began in September 2021, with Artes Mundi working in partnership with Aurora Trinity Collective (ATC) and founding artist Helen Clifford and the Trinity Centre. On completion, the project had:

Delivered 96 Friday workshops. Activities included: Dance and Movement,
Sewing, Weaving, Drawing, Painting, Collage, Screen Printing, Painting,
Ceramics and much more
Achieved a total attendance at these sessions of 2,240 people
Worked with 181 individuals, with 156 people aged 18-64 and 132 people
aged 0-17
Eight members of the collective led workshops for other members
Members of the ATC completed seven research trips, including visiting artists based in Swansea who work as associate artists at Glynn Vivian Gallery
Five members of the ATC completed Trauma Awareness Training, one member had peer-mentoring with artist Muneera Pilgrim, two members completed Disability Equity training, and one member completed Facilitation training
Completed two Creative Retreats to Manorbier in Pembrokeshire, during which the group developed new artworks and talked about the design of their annual programme of activity. In February 2022 35 people (17 ATC Members and 18 children) and in February 2023 45 people (20 ATC Members and 24 children) attended a three-day Creative Retreat to Manorbier in Pembrokeshire

Additionally, in 2021 we established a Steering Group for the Aurora Trinity Collective, consisting of six members of the collective. These members meet once a month (12 sessions annually in total) to design the schedule and develop future programmes and work for the collective. At completion of the project, the Collective achieved CIC status enabling sustained work and programming to continue with independent fundraising.

Since the beginning of the project, ATC worked on a series of mini projects alongside the regular Friday sessions complementing dedicated project strands the overall offer. These included:

Dance and movement project working with June Campbell-Davies,
Creating a zine about the history and practices of ATC with Ophelia Dos Santos, Christianah Ugbaja and Saharah Rahim,
One-to-one sewing tutorials with Marianne Barwise
Sewing workshops with Marianne Barwise
Two Children’s summer projects with visiting artists including Heledd Evans, Oliver Sutherland, Nicole Ready and Nasima Begum.
Developing a collaborative studio practice and shared aesthetic through Textiles led by Ogechi Dimeke

ATC also worked on two additional projects with Nasia Sarwar-Skuse and Taylor Edmonds on a Creative Writing project called ‘The Long View’ and with Made in Roath and Clare Charles on ‘Climate Cooks.’

ATC were successful in securing additional funding to support the creative programme for children, as the success of the project continues to grow, more mothers with young children are attending these workshops. ATC fundraised to support this development and are managing these budgets, including support from Community Foundation Wales. They are also contributed to ‘The Square Mile’ project throughout the summer of 2023.

ATC also developed new relationships and networks with organisations such as Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Chapter Arts Centre, Parkminster Methodists Church, Birth Partner Project, Space4U, Oasis One World Choir and Neighbourly Food Distribution. In addition, a Community

Employment Mentor from Cardiff Council regularly attended the Friday sessions to give career advice to ATC members.

Six Artes Mundi staff completed training with the Welsh Refugee Council including Trauma Awareness Training.

“It was such a beautiful weekend, we feel very blessed to have been there in your company. What we take away are the beautiful memories, the conversations, the singing, the smiles and the laughter.” Nasima Begum, Aurora Trinity Collective steering group member speaking about the Creative Retreat to Manorbier in February 2023

“Thank you for Aurora, thank you for everyone, I like this very much and also my child, he’s very excited, it will be forever in my mind. Thank you for all Aurora” ATC member speaking about the Creative Retreat to Manorbier in February 2022.

“I liked how everyone worked together, the way people worked together, everyone was working nicely.” ATC Member speaking about the summer 2022 workshop series.

“My favourite moment with Aurora was 2022 summer event, starting with tie dye, block printing, screen printing and seeing all kids do their project. Seeing the outcome of summer project makes me more excited.” ATC Member

Universes

Over the summer, we spent lots of time with our friends at the Welsh Refugee Council’s playgroup, as part of the Aurora Phenomenon Project run in partnership with Aurora Trinity Collective and Founding Artist Helen Clifford, The Trinity Centre, and Artes Mundi.

Together we created a new short film with the young artists who spent their summer with us all.

Making this film was about experimenting, learning, sharing ideas, and joy.

The Longest Pipe Cleaner: 29 metres and 7 centimetres

This film, The Longest Pipe Cleaner: 29 metres and 7 centimetres was made during a workshop by Abdurrahman, Kazim, Mohammad, Saeed Wedaal and Salahuddeen. The artists got together to make this during a Collage workshop which was led by Nasima Begum.

This spontaneous act of collaborative art-making took place as part of the Aurora Phenomenon project.