William to Visit Art Exhibit Offering Fresh Perspective on Homelessness

The Prince of Wales will tour a groundbreaking homelessness exhibition featuring art created by former rough sleepers. William’s Homewards project aims to develop a blueprint for eradicating homelessness in all its forms, and it drives the art attraction which opened at the Saatchi Gallery in London in August.

Called Homelessness: Reframed, the exhibition features sculptures, photographs, and everyday objects given new life by artists who may have experienced homelessness. This art aims to tell personal stories and provide a fresh perspective on the issue.

The prince is looking forward to touring the exhibition, which runs until September 20. It showcases established creatives like photographer Rankin alongside emerging artists.

Award-winning social justice artist David Tovey created Home 2013, a shed-like structure made from scraps of metal and panels from a Peugeot 206, the model of car the artist lived in for six months.

Mick Clarke, the chief executive of homelessness charity The Passage, said Tovey had used the charity’s services and now hosted art classes at one of its residential projects. Clarke added, “What I love about the Reframed exhibition is this gives an opportunity again to put a spotlight on how we’ve got to get homelessness away from something society thinks is inevitable and something that we manage, to something that can be prevented from happening.”

The Passage, which William supports as royal patron, helped the Homewards team find artists for the exhibition. Its chief executive added, “You have this exhibition where it’s taking people on the journey of homelessness and the trauma people have been through, but also the positivity coming out the other end.”

The attraction has three parts: a collection of mainly hand-drawn signs sometimes seen next to a person sleeping rough, artwork commissions, and doors turned into art by young people from the six areas where Homewards is working. These workshops were led by local artists who have also experienced homelessness.

During his visit, William will meet some of the artists who have contributed to the exhibition, including Rankin, and chat with some of the young people who helped create the artwork from doors.

Source: PA Media