'THE exhibition “Tears of Gold” presents three sets of portraits created by Hannah Rose Thomas which depict Yezidi women who escaped IS captivity, Rohingya women who fled violence in Myanmar, and Nigerian women who survived Boko Haram and Fulani violence. Many of the women depicted in Thomas’s paintings personally suffered sexual violence; others represent their wider community and the countless untold stories of horror.
Thomas met these women while they were respectively in a rehabilitation facility, in a refugee camp, and on a trauma-healing programme. While with them, Thomas taught them to paint their self-portraits. It was after doing so that they asked her to paint their portraits. Both sets of portraits feature in this exhibition, with the women’s self-portraits offered as a way in which to share their stories with the rest of the world.'
I interviewed Hannah recently about this exhibition, an interview that was published by Artlyst and which can be read here. Hannah also contributed to 'Art and Social Impact', a HeartEdge workshop which explored the question of art and social change through conversation with artists whose work has a social impact dimension. View 'Art and Social Impact' here.
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Martin Smith - You Have Shown Us.
