Sanctuaries: Looking for Safe Spaces

Sanctuaries: Looking for Safe Spaces was funded by Y Heritage through the national Kick The Dust programme.

For this project we worked alongside an amazing group of young people from Leicester Y and Attenborough Arts centre, matching them with some incredible creatives, towards producing a series of immersive installations in the church as part of Refugee Week 2019. Throughout this project we sought out heritage venues in Leicester with a link to the history of Sanctuary. We learned about the concept of Sanctuary itself and shared ideas about what makes a place a sanctuary for us as individuals. Then, in the final stage, we built the young people’s Real and Imagined Safe Spaces in the Church and shared their vision with the public.

The exhibition was open Friday 21 and Saturday 22 June 2019. A first project based in the wonderful All Saints Church building, we were able to explore how we might transform the space, remaining respectful of its history as a place of worship at the centre of the community.

We would like to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Lottery Players and the Y-heritage fund for supporting the project. Thanks also to the Churches Conservation Trust for allowing us to use the wonderful All Saints Church in Leicester.