WORDS FOR THE LIVING, 2021
Live Performance | Beth Derbyshire | WERK
Words for the Living is a live performance in which an individual speaker, communicates a series of words and phrases through a megaphone in public space. The words are commemorative excerpts by loved ones for so many of the key workers who have tragically passed away from Covid 19. The poignant and celebratory recital of words is a living memorial, describing the qualities of these incredible people who lost their lives whilst saving others and is intended to pay homage to loss, whilst inspiring the living through their bravery. The performance will be filmed and presented in the digital space of Into the Parade.
Into the Parade is an online web encounter and live project that explores how arts organisation and practitioners across the Midlands are engaging civically. The digital ‘Civic Centre’ is both tangible and metaphorical concept to explore the role of cultural practice in a civic context. Into the Parade is a cultural intervention that undertakes projects that have online and real-world anchors points and has been initiated by Beth Derbyshire and developed with students from the MA Arts and Project Management course at Birmingham City University.
BETH DERBYSHIRE
WE ARE WITHOUT WORDS 2011
This series of works documents the 2011 Syrian conflict as it was witnessed through newspaper reports, media coverage, and photographic imagery. The works explore how war is experienced, communicated, and understood through the lens of journalism, where events unfolding in real time are captured, edited, and disseminated to global audiences.
Embedded within many of the pieces are words and phrases spoken by mothers and family members affected by the conflict, including statements such as “We will not close our eyes” and “We are without words.” These testimonies speak to the profound grief, resilience, and trauma experienced by those living through the devastation of war and the loss of loved ones.
The imagery incorporated within the works ranges from radar systems and communication technologies associated with modern warfare to aeroplanes, soldiers, protesters, public figures, and urban and rural landscapes. Trees, city streets, and scenes of collective gathering sit alongside images of public addresses and political statements, reflecting the complex intersections of conflict, media, and everyday life.
The works attempt to construct a visual narrative from fragments sourced from newspapers and news media. They consider how images are captured within war zones before being selected, edited, framed, and reproduced through the mechanisms of journalism. Through processes of painting and drawing, these mediated images are transformed once again, creating a space for reflection on the relationship between lived experience, eyewitness testimony, media representation, and collective memory.
The series examines not only the events of the Syrian war itself but also the ways in which conflict is translated into visual culture, questioning how images shape our understanding of distant human suffering and our connection to global events.