In 2015 my art practice received funding from Arts Council England to develop a project using the names of 466 WW1 fallen soldiers, these names are listed on the Cenotaph at Ilkeston Market Place. Click here to see the project.
More recently I applied to the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund to develop this project further. My aim is to gather an additional 466 names of Erewash essential Covid-19 workers. They could be NHS Staff, care workers or anyone working on the front line, in communities, businesses providing services and volunteers. Examples could include anyone who has been working during lockdown in a shop, post office, petrol station, delivering food parcels, organising food banks, emptying bins, bus drivers etc.
At the moment this is a research project to gather an additional 466 names. Also to consider how they could be presented in an artwork in the future along with the 466 WW1 names remembered on the Ilkeston Cenotaph. Covid-19 has been compared to WW1 including loss of life, food rationing, social distancing, community spirit and helping the needy. I see this as a significant opportunity to bring together two groups of individuals separated by 100 years with the same commitment to saving lives.
If you would like your name to be included, or you would like to put forward an essential workers name (with their consent) please email joy@joypitts.co.uk and include: -
1. NAME and initial for example:- J. Pitts.
2. WORK/JOB DURING LOCKDOWN for example:- volunteer handing out food parcels.
3. EMAIL ADDRESS or MOBILE for future contact as the project develops.
Gathering the names is the first stage of this project which I hope to develop in the future, this will include an opportunity to share the work in a public space.
