Rush Me was a digital experience by Sonia E Barrett curated and commissioned by UP Projects for This is Public Space.
*We strongly recommend experiencing Rush Me on the most up-to-date version of Google Chrome with a stable Wi-Fi network to fully experience the artwork as it is intended. Please also ensure your sound is on.*
Rush Me is a new digital experience by Sonia E Barrett curated and commissioned by UP Projects for This is Public Space.
Rush Me investigates narratives including migration, belonging, identity and hybridity and builds greater empathy with the Windrush Generation by contextualising the British Government’s invitation in the 1940’s to come and help the “motherland” in new ways. It takes a long view of the myriad ways people of Caribbean descent have moved and been moved to serve British interests. Recontextualising "Windrush" in terms of both historical and contemporary movement, "rush me" is a meditation on help, need, peril and service.
Rush Me is an interactive digital space hosted in Hubs Mozilla, which can be explored by online audiences after the creation of an avatar. The space presents three avenues of exploration that delve deeper into the themes of healthcare, transport and military assistance. Acknowledging the Windrush Generation's huge contribution to the nation, as well as personal sacrifices, these three themes reflect some of the areas in which Caribbeans contributed skills and lived experiences so crucial to British social, economic and cultural history. Audiences are free to roam these spaces, contribute to their narrative or participate in joint spaces of reflection.
Upon entering the interactive environment, visitors encounter a short film, created by Barrett, which is composed of film clips that span British popular culture to narrate a poem written by the artist. They can then go on to navigate the first room which addresses the theme of healthcare.
Rush Me launched on 28 June 2022 but will continue to evolve over the coming months through a participatory process. It aspires to construct an alternative narrative by creating a space to try out different voices. These narratives will change as people enter the space and are invited to make video, written and drawn contributions in a series of workshops that facilitate this space as one of intergenerational contact. Black British groups and individuals that do not usually have a platform, as well as those significantly invested in some of the issues involved, will be supported to speak and share.
If you or a group you are involved in would like to book a time to engage in the space and leave your mark or share what you feel has been absented to date, then please contact: info@upprojects.com or fill out the following form.
Rush Me by Sonia E Barrett is curated and commissioned by UP Projects for This is Public Space and is generously sponsored by Barrington Hibbert Associates and supported by Arts Council England. The commission was realised with technical development and creative assistance from Marine Renaudineau.
Background Information
This digital commission is a continuation of Barrett’s Stay series which emphasises the significance of the ask to leave and acknowledges its ability to cripple a person from flight. The controversy around 'leave to remain' (the legal formation of ‘staying’) in the context of Windrush also relates significantly to issues for migrants globally.
Internationally acclaimed and widely praised for Barrett’s approach to participation and community engagement, Rush Me will be developed over the course of several months and will respond to and be shaped by West Indian communities in Leeds, Derby, London and returnees in Jamaica in order to inform the creation of the work.
Rush Me is one of two distinct public art commissions that take the Windrush Generation as it’s starting point. Alongside this digital commission, UP Projects is working with the Windrush Commemoration Committee (WCC), chaired by Baroness Floella Benjamin DBE DL and the British Government Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to support the process of commissioning an artist to create The National Windrush Monument at London Waterloo Station.
Accessibility
To ensure the film in the digital space is accessible to users you can also view it in full screen here:
This film is part of the digital commission Rush Me, and is positioned within the first room of Sonia E Barrett’s digital environment hosted on the platform Mozilla Hubs. We recognise that Hubs Mozilla might not be accessible to everyone. You can also view video tours of each room along with a written visual aid description of the commission below:
Acknowledgments from Sonia E Barrett
It has been really critical to have the research time which gave me the opportunity to comb through archives and think at length about some of the patterns. It was so helpful to be facilitated in making a digital space. Working with Lili-Maxx Hager and Marine Renaudineau was really nothing short of empowering. Emma Underhill was encouraging and supportive in a hands-on way despite her Directorship commitments at UP Projects.
At this stage, it is incredibly meaningful to have had this opportunity to bring the depth of inquiry that my time at Yale and St Andrews University has afforded me to the idea of Windrush. This inquiry has been sharpened by the recent passing of my Uncle and Grandmother who lived many of the issues picked up in the work.
It is powerful to have been facilitated by a sponsor whose own heritage reflects that of the Windrush Generation. Without the generous support of Michael Barrington-Hibbert, this work would not be possible.
I am grateful to those that hold the space for Black inquiry in Britain such as the International Curators Forum, The Otolith Group, INIVA, The BCA and The Black Geographers whose work and programming have considerably impacted my own.
I remain grateful to Jules Vernon for choosing to create an anchor point with this one vessel of many, the Windrush. His organisation continues to point out that West Indians came to the UK as citizens, not immigrants.
I am grateful and indebted to the challenging work that David Olusoga has undertaken with official government documents and testimonials. I have found all the material very emotional and hope the space can hold this difficult material as well as allow us to find some respite from it in a virtual company in real-time.
