Bristol art exhibition looks at the people behind ‘homeless’ label

An art exhibition in Bristol of work produced by local men who have experienced homelessness opens at City Hall on Monday 26 February. ‘Homeless People’ sets out to go behind the ‘homeless’ label by exploring the diversity and individuality of the artists whose work is on display.

Each of the men whose work is on show is receiving or has received support from one of the organisations – including The Salvation Army - who are part of Bristol City Council’s ‘Bristol Pathway 1’ homelessness strategy, an initiative that aims to provide accommodation solutions to people who experience homelessness in order to help them back on their feet.

The exhibition is being run as part of Homelessness Awareness Week 2018 in Bristol. 

Commenting on the ‘Homeless People’ exhibition, Brian Gibbs of The Salvation Army’s Homelessness Services Unit, said: “Within society we are often presented with numbers and statistics about the issue of homelessness which can cloud the issue and create the impression that there is ‘one group of homeless people’. 

“Popular depictions of people who are experiencing homelessness also tend to either focus on substance misuse or dependence on charity which can make it easy to forget that we are talking about people  – real people like you and I who have thoughts, feelings, ideas, fears, aspirations, talent and skills. 

“With ‘Homeless People’ we’re setting out to capture the personalities and individuality of the artists whose work is on show to demonstrate that they are people with life stories as individual and varied as the reasons why they ended up experiencing homelessness.”

The focal point of ‘Homeless People’ is a piece called ‘Who am I?’ which is a collaboration between residents at Second Step, Places for People, The Salvation Army, Self Help Housing Association, Elim Housing  and Knightstone Housing Association homelessness support centres in Bristol.

‘Homeless People’ is on show at the Deanery Road Vestibule, City Hall in Bristol between 26 February and 2 March from 10am to 4pm.

For more information, please visit the event page.