At the height of the BlackLivesMatter movement and the COVID-19 pandemic, my team and I were commissioned to create a digital piece of content that spoke to the unprecedented times we were living in. In the summer of 2020, when echo chambers had sealed shut and people felt at their most exhausted. My creative team and I set about crafting a piece of digital content that explored the events occurring around us, and that would provide a space for our audience to reflect on the revolutionary shifts happening in society and within themselves. The result was RestToProtest.
We realised that many people's lack of empathy and compassion came from the fact that they were exhausted and lacked the capacity to engage with challenging topics which would make them reflect on their privileges.
We realised in order to grow capacity and compassion, people need to rest and that sleep was a universal act and we could use it to explore many themes relating to marginalisation and power.
By examining the universal act of sleep, this piece was able to access a myriad of relevant topics in a nuanced way. Many of us had returned home at the start of the pandemic and interviews with our parents on the topic of sleep and rest opened up a range of undiscovered histories. Subjects explored included: Caribbean migration and anti-blackness in the UK; India’s partition and England’s colonial history; class mobility; single motherhood; and spirituality.
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Act 1: A typical birthing story. A black woman strains whilst giving birth.
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Act 2: We hear the cry of a baby. We see tears being shed. Family holds each other.
Act 2: We hear the cry of a baby. We see tears being shed. Family holds each other.
