Photographic work exhibited in 'Tell me the story of all these things', Firstsite, Colchester

Photographic work from Billingham's series 'Ray's a Laugh' was exhibited in 'Tell Me the Story of All These Things', Firstsite, Colchester, (28 March - 28 June 2020)

This exhibition was part of The National Partners Programme launched in 2016 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Arts Council Collection by creating a network of regional galleries and museums to present and curate exhibitions drawn from the Arts Council Collection.

'Tell Me the Story of All These Things' was co-curated by women living in Colchester. It presented a selection of artworks from the Arts Council Collection to create a lived experience of art that bought about understanding, empowerment and transformation through interaction and interpretation in order to inspire confidence, strength, and courage in everyone.

The exhibition was made by women civic leaders, community organisers, artists, designers, politicians, mothers and the owners of businesses in Colchester. They self-defined as ‘Radical Women’ and met together to discuss their lives, feelings, priorities and concerns since they witnessed the unveiling of Gillian Wearing’s statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square on April 24th 2018. The Gillian Wearing piece was co-commissioned by Firstsite and the Mayor of London.

The exhibition was selected through a curatorial process that was driven by emotional intelligence and soft power. It created an open, engaging atmosphere to prompt visitors to explore their own emotional responses to the works presented.