Before we closed our doors we were very proud to be working in partnership with Uncovered Artistry hosting Toys for Survival in our main event and library spaces. Mobilising playfulness and pleasure as a radical act within a history of women’s resistance, healing and growth, Toys for Survival started life as a series of workshops for survivors of gender-based violence hosted by Market Gallery with support from Uncovered Artistry. The exhibition explores sensuality and sensory pleasure through sculpture, placing the survivors’ work alongside work by Leah Miller-Biot, Maria de Lima and Joanna Peace.
Inspired in equal measure by Bessel Van der Kolk’s research into trauma recovery and Adrienne Maree Brown’s ‘Pleasure Activism’, the project considers art through the lens of toy making, proposing joy and play as radical forces of creative and energetic curiosity.
The sculptural works played with the senses in ways that are difficult to capture entirely in online formats yet with support for survivors more necessary than ever, these images are a small reminder that resistance continues, with changed circumstances making these hopeful works even more relevant.
Starting with an overview we will be sharing different aspects of this show and the artists involved over the next few weeks on Instagram. The artists are working on other participatory ways to share work and strategies but ahead of this there is an online guide available to download below.
Download Toys for Survival Publication
Download the Large Print version below.
