Hannaa Hamdache – Dr Nick Owen MBE PLUS

Over the last few years, I’ve been supporting The Mighty Creatives’ annual ‘Be Mighty, Be Creatives’ fundraising campaigns. This year is no exception. Called The Mighty (Un)Mute, we’re aiming to raise £5,000 to support the artistic creation for one of ten Globe Sculptures in The World Reimagined art trail across Leicester, one of the most multicultural cities in the UK.

On 5th October The TMC staff team supported the campaign by taking part in the Mighty (UN)Mute, a day-long vow of silence, which saw us taking a Journey of Discovery of all ten Globe Sculptures around Leicester. This is what we discovered:

Laura-Kate Pontefract: Mother Africa at Leicester Station.

Roy Meats: The Reality of Being Enslaved at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery

Natasha Muluswela – Leicester Community Globe at Victoria Park

Lou Boyce – Stolen Legacy: the Rebirth of a Nation at Medway Community Primary School

Marcus Dove ,Abolition and Emancipation at Highfields Centre

Richard Rawlins – A Complex Triangle Indeed at Orton Square

Zita Holbourne – Still We Strive at the Clocktower

Hannaa Hamdache, Sarah Mensah & Gabrielle Ubakanma – Ecology of Existance at Highcross Centre

Lakwena Maciver – Staying Power)at Stephen Lawrence Research Centre

Jarvis Brookfield – From Roots To Fruit at Leicester Town Hall.

Here they are in situ, in all their glory.

The Mighty Creatives staff team took part in the Mighty (UN)Mute, a day-long vow of silence, on 5th October 2022. You can check out the campaign here or donate your support to it here.

Or if neither of these is possible (and heaven knows we’re all in tough financial times right now), then anything you can do to share and shout about the campaign would be equally welcomed and appreciated.

It’s not long before we encounter the next globe sculpture on our journey of discovery: the work by Hannaa Hamdache, Sarah Mensah & Gabrielle Ubakanma (theme: Ecology of Existance).

We’re especially enamoured with this globe as it’s particularly close to our heart. When we heard about The World Reimagined project being developed back in 2020, it became clear in those early days that no-where in the East Midlands was being ear marked to host a globe. Bristol, yes; Manchester, yes; Liverpool, obviously. But the East Midlands?

As ever, it seemed that the region was being marginalised by some larger national interests so we thought, that in our role as Arts Council Bridge organisation for the East Midlands it was up to us to see if we could persuade some of the larger local authorities in the region to step up and support it. So, although approaches to Nottingham, Derby, Northampton and Lincoln all came to nothing, Leicester City Council, God Bless It, stepped up and found the resources and political will to support the programme, underwrite the financial requirements and make it happen.

We played our part in this process too by sponsoring one of the globes (guess which?) and involving one of our team, Hannaa Hamdache to produce the globe together with local young artists. Mission accomplished. Nearly.

Our sponsorship of the Globe has required us to underwrite its production using a combination of our own unrestricted reserves and public donations. Our trustees promised that for every £ we could raise through our campaigning, they would match it, £ for £ until we reached the target of £10,000.

We’re not there yet but are heading in the right direction: so any help you can offer would be much appreciated.

And even if you can’t donate your cash at this moment in time, please do come and visit all the globes (especially ours. Which we really love. As if you couldn’t guess.) – they’ll provide a fascinating journey of discovery not only around Leicester but across the world.