English: Another visit to Handsworth Park, to see the Handsworth Park Arts Trail.

Veranda Stories - The Pyramid Tower

The Pyramid Tower from Veranda Stories is located a few hundred yards from the ‘Sons of Rest’ building. The galvanized steel tower was designed by Birmingham based visual artist Pauline Bailey, in collaboration with the Women’s Sewing Group at Saathi House who co-designed many mandala patterns, which Pauline then developed and had laser cut to decorated each side of the three-metre high steel tower. Elders from Panel Croft Extra Care Village and Pearl’s Memory Café Dementia Group at Soho House also participated in workshop activities, and while the design of the piece was mostly informed by the workshop activities with the Saathi House women’s group, (partially in celebration of the year of South Asian Arts), all three groups shared their stories during the workshop sessions designed to address health and wellbeing through the use of object and storytelling techniques. This is an approach often used by Pauline who has been involved in socially engaged arts practice for over thirty years.

The artwork produced is often informed by the groups she works with or made in collaboration with them. Members of the public are also an integral part of Pauline’s installations through physically having to interact directly with them.