ATD Fourth World & Eva Sajovic – The Roles We Play

17 October 2014 to 14 November 2014

ATD Fourth World, in partnership with artist and photographer Eva Sajovic, is proud to present The Roles We Play: Recognising the Contribution of People in Poverty.

This interactive exhibition features photographic portraits and self-written biographies, along with video stations and activity booths, exploring the roles played by those living in poverty within their families, communities and society. The exhibition highlights their efforts, validates their achievements and challenges the negative attitudes often held towards vulnerable and excluded families in the UK.

I am not invisible anymore; I am recognised as a human being with thoughts, feelings and aspirations. Kathy, Human Rights Activist

From helping neighbours, volunteering in community projects, looking after family members and creating art, the individuals featured in The Roles We Play demonstrate the richness, creativity and altruism in their daily lives. Their stories provide a stirring challenge to prevailing political and media stereotypes that individuals and families living in poverty are lazy, self-interested or even dangerous ‘scroungers’.

We all bring something to our communities, be we unemployed or someone earning multi-millions. We all have something to give.
James, Jack of All Trades

The exhibition’s interactive aspects invite the audience to reconstruct their understanding of poverty and to draw parallels between their own lives and those of the project participants. Through mutual understanding, empathy and the sharing of experience, the work aims to create new perceptions about poverty and community cohesion in the UK.

Exhibition Events

Friday 17 October 2014, 6:30pm: Official Launch of The Roles We Play publication

Join us for an evening celebrating the launch of our publication The Roles We Play, from which the exhibition’s photographic portraits and self-written biographies derive. Interactive video and photo booths will give you the opportunity to be part of the project, while pop-up talks from Eva Sajovic, project participants and the ATD Fourth World team will take you behind the scenes of The Roles We Play.

Refreshments provided and copies of the book available.

Tuesday 4 November, 6:30pm: Symposium – The Roles We Play as a model for collaborative practice

Eva Sajovic, Dann Kenningham, Fran Bennett and project participants will lead a discussion on the collaborative methodology used in The Roles We Play. The panelists will share their experiences on how participatory practice can be achieved in artistic and/or social justice projects and the importance of striving for genuine collaboration.