Fragments Of Belonging - Whitehaven Reimagined

​Month 1 - A Quiet Hello From The Shoreline

​This month, I’m excited to share the beginning of a new creative chapter — a project I’ll be working on over the next few months as part of my residency with Rosehill Theatre.
 
It’s called Fragments of Belonging: Whitehaven Reimagined, and it brings together many threads I’ve been holding for a long time — painting, filmmaking, historical reflection, and the deeply personal question of what it means to belong.
 
The project sets out to reimagine Whitehaven’s harbour — not just visually, but emotionally and historically. I’m especially drawn to its connection with Cape Coast in Ghana, the harbour town where my family originates. Although I didn’t grow up in Cape Coast, in Ghanaian culture your roots are always traced through your ancestral hometown. It’s part of how you know who you are.
 
Cape Coast and Whitehaven sit on opposite sides of the ocean, yet both are shaped by the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. This work isn’t simply about comparing two harbours — it’s about reflecting on memory, identity, and how stories (both told and untold) shape the landscapes we live in.
 
The idea for this project began to take shape last year during Refugee Week 2024, when I had the opportunity to work with a group of refugees here in Cumbria. We explored the question: What does home mean to you? The conversations were powerful — tender, searching, and honest. I captured some of those moments on film and later turned them into a short documentary. That project stayed with me and sparked something that’s continued to grow — a desire to look deeper into the idea of home, place, and belonging in my own context.
 
Over the next five months, I’ll be gathering sketches, making paintings, filming, and reflecting. In my mind, I’ll  be wandering through Whitehaven’s customs houses and cobbled alleys, sitting in quiet places by the harbour, and exploring the architecture, the shoreline, and the memories held within them. It’s a solo process, but not a solitary one — I’m continually shaped by the people I meet, the stories shared, and the atmosphere of the town itself.
 
I’ll be sharing glimpses along the way — sketches from the field, behind-the-scenes clips, and reflections as the project evolves. If you’d like to follow the journey, you can buddy me on social media or through my website by commenting on my posts. And if you fancy supporting me with a coffee (or something more sustaining), there’s a link to a 'Donate' button on my homepage where you can do just that. Every little bit of support helps and is truly appreciated.
 
For now, this is just the beginning — a quiet hello from the shoreline, where old stories meet new paint, and the idea of belonging is gathered one fragment at a time.