Workhouse Museum & Garden
Our popular exhibition, Homeless Not Faceless, which was displayed at the Workhouse Museum earlier this year, is currently touring venues in Harrogate.
The exhibition features the stories and photographs of 10 people who have given their own accounts of being homeless. The exhibition was created by Ripon Museums in partnership with the Harrogate Homeless Project and Ripon YMCA, who have given their support to the clients featured in the exhibition.
Museum staff interviewed the clients to get their stories of homelessness in their own words, whilst photographer Tim Smith took portrait images of the clients, or at their request, their shoes or hands. The exhibition was originally displayed at Ripon Workhouse Museum but following the overwhelmingly positive response from visitors, it was decided to tour the exhibition around venues in Harrogate, Ripon and further afield.
The exhibition will be displayed at the following venues:
- Wesley Centre, Oxford Street, Harrogate
- Harrogate Library, Victoria Avenue, Harrogate
- Barclays Bank, James Street, Harrogate
- Ripon Cathedral
- Ripon Library, The Arcade, Ripon
Leah Mellors, Curator of Ripon Museums said: “This is a powerful exhibition which gives homeless people an opportunity to tell their own stories of homelessness in their own words. Following the great response of visitors to the Workhouse Museum, we were keen to provide further opportunities for people in the local area to view the images and stories. The museums are very grateful to Harrogate Homeless Project and Ripon YMCA for their support in making this possible”.
The exhibition was partly funded by North Yorkshire County Council, as part of their Stronger Communities – Inspire programme.
For anyone who is concerned about someone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness, Ripon YMCA have produced a leaflet, available at http://www.riponymca.org/housing.
