Ways of Living - A Panel Discussion Remembering Rana Plaza

During this event, chaired by Ella Cronk from Yorkshire Sculpture International, Mia will talk us through the research and realisation of - a sculpture commissioned by Sunny Bank Mills to commemorate the collapse in 2013.

Alongside artist Thahmina Begum, and a video link from photographer Taslima Akhter, you will hear about the devastation caused by the collapse, and the conversations it sparked around fast fashion, social injustice and oppression, sustainability and much more.

The event will begin with a walk to visit Mia's sculpture on the Weaver's Lawn. We will then lead you back to the gallery for the panel discussion, which will be followed by a Q&A where you can ask your own questions.

This panel discussion is taking place on the closing weekend of our current exhibition Tangled Up at Sunny Bank Mills Gallery. CLICK HERE to see what else is happening on the day.

£15 Meet the Artists & Rana Plaza Discussion tickets will grant you access to both talks happening in the Gallery on Saturday 29th June.

About Rana Plaza

2023 marked ten years since the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, 2013. Rana Plaza was an eight-story commercial building that housed five garment factories which collapsed, killing over 1,100 people and injuring approximately 2,500 others.

The structural failure of the Rana Plaza building was a direct result of the social failure for its garment workers. The hundreds of subsequent deaths and life-long injuries were a direct result of the mistreatment of, and lack of care for, factory workers at the bottom of the supply chain within the textile and apparel industry.

Remember Rana Plaza , a sculpture created by local artist Mia Mai Symonds, was designed to mirror the social injustice rooted within the collapse through an exploration of form and material. Merging both concrete and textiles, the two core materials which envelop this historic tragedy, this sculpture considers the relationship between the factories’ material foundations, both internal and external, and their impact on the bodies and lives that laid trapped between them.

Remember Rana Plaza was made to acknowledge and commemorate the lives lost amongst the rubble and cloth whilst hopefully reigniting dialogue surrounding the causes of this tragic event, and reflecting on what has or has not changed in the ten years that have passed.

The sculpture was commissioned by Sunny Bank Mills and is now a permanent installation on the site’s Weavers’ Lawn.

About Mia

Mia Mai Symonds (b.1997, Leeds) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher working primarily across weaving, sculpture, installation and image-making.

Through a critically, socially and materially engaged approach to research of woven textiles, Mia is dedicated to uncovering this everyday material’s emotional potency, value, political ecologies, and capacity to trace human experiences across time and place. With intersectional feminist theory at the heart of her research, Mia’s work is often formed around notions of memory, sensory experiences, archived information, knowledge exchange, identity and social injustice.

About Thahmina

Thahmina Begum lives and works in Leeds, Yorkshire. She is an Interdisciplinary Artist, Poet, and Workshop Facilitator. Thahmina has exhibited internationally, nationally, and hyper locally.

She is a qualified and registered Art Psychotherapist (HCPC, BATT). Her work explores cultures, identities, belonging and British /Bangladeshi/Muslim Diaspora. Thahmina's work explores stories, hidden narratives and storytelling through art and art making. She is passionate about making art accessible for all sections of society and the promotion of art to improve our health and wellbeing. She love’s how Art can give voices to communities/people that have been silenced.

Begum’s work ranges from printmaking, collage, embroidery, painting, drawing, poetry, and creative conversations. She love’s working with Communities and groups to support and ease their ideas around art and what it means to them.

About Ella

Ella Cronk moved to Leeds in 2015. She quickly realised that the best thing about being an artist in Yorkshire was the people and in 2016, co-founded serf: a studio, community and project space in the city centre. Ella then worked at East Street Arts, and over four years produced projects about the social, political and environmental role of culture at a local, national and international level.

In 2021, Ella joined Yorkshire Sculpture International as Partnerships and Programme Manager, bringing together four major institutions: Leeds Art Gallery, Henry Moore Institute, The Hepworth Wakefield and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. She aims to build on the rich sculptural heritage in Yorkshire and create opportunities for artists and local communities in the present day.

Ella also volunteers with - bringing citizens together from across the city in a campaign to create a sustainable future for Leeds’ cultural and community venues.

Above all, Ella is driven by the role creativity can play in connecting people and positively impacting the places we live.

Accessibility

This talk will be held in the Gallery which is located on Farsley Town Street. The main entrance on Town Street has a flight of stairs. The Gallery can also be reached by a flat access entrance to the rear of the building, through the Mills’ Main Yard (there is an approx 1 inch step on the doorway). There are several disabled toilets on site, as well as free accessible parking.

Unfortunately, Weaver's Lawn (sculpture location) is not currently wheelchair accessible, but images of the sculpture will be displayed throughout the discussion.

Host or Publisher Sunny Bank Mills Gallery