Welcome to the November newsletter!

November has been a big month for getting out into the world, having conversations, looking at and drawing maps, and getting to the bottom of how we feel about the spaces where we live. It was brilliant to finally run a session at the Old Abbey Taphouse this month, and to hear some stories about Hulme's past from those who came.

I'm making plans now for next steps, and looking forward to the new year. Looking forward too, to getting some rest over the Christmas period. December's looking to be a quiet month – I'm holing up to write funding applications and put things in place for the future of the We Live Here project.

Hoping you're all keeping warm and can find some time to rest this December too.

Where do we live? What shape are those places? How do they look on paper?

On the 13^th, I spent two hours at the Old Abbey Taphouse, having conversations about Hulme past and present. We chatted, drank tea and coffee, and doodled maps. Every time I have a conversation about Hulme I find myself learning something new – one standout from this Sunday was Abbey Pond, which housed newts until nearby development in 1994 (in ignorance of protests) filled it in as part of building the Science Park next door. A blog post about ‘The Republic of Newtonia’ gives a bit more info in my recent reading list, below.

I’ve also been trying a little drawing exercise with people I’m chatting with, inviting them to draw a map of somewhere they have lived, then draw a picture of the place in question on top. One of the results is pictured, above. What’s the difference between a drawing and a map? Does the drawing get in the way of the map, or the map in the way of the drawing? Or maybe they muddle each other, and create something greater than the sum of its parts. I’ll keep playing with this invitation, and keep asking myself these questions.

Something Sally said to me at the Mapping Hulme workshop has really stuck. ‘There should be statues of them.’ We were talking about how Hulme has changed, and those who have come before us, fighting for its residents’ rights, and for meaningful support from the council. I think in conversations about how places have changed, it’s easy to overlook and forget that people seldom lie down and allow what they have to be taken quietly. This is especially true of Hulme, which has a long radical history, and hundreds of stories still alive in the people around today, if you find time to listen.

With the We Live Here project, I’m interested in creating a history of the present. I want to place Hulme in a historical context and I want to talk about and record the ways in which it is alive and advocating for itself today. In the same way a statue is a physical reminder of the past, I want to keep asking myself, how can this project record and interact with the many reminders of Hulme’s present?

I look forward to finding the answer to that question.

Got any recommended reads? Drop me an email and let me know!

For those of you who joined the mailout this month, you can find past newsletters here.

Thanks for reading, take care.

James Varney

he/him

Lead Artist, We Live Here