Meet the artist: Elena Mary Harris
Remembering Together: East Dunbartonshire have appointed their artist to co-create memorials with communities. Meet Elena Mary Harris.
Elena Mary Harris is a participatory artist and facilitator delivering projects across the central belt of Scotland. Working in arts, education, health and social care settings, advocacy sits at the core of how Elena envisions and designs creative projects. She wants to create spaces where people, that often go unheard, will be listened to and encouraged to speak up in audiences they may not otherwise have access to. Recent projects have included partnerships with Edinburgh Young Carers, The British Museum, Luminate, Erskine Care Homes, AIMS Advocacy, Includem, National Library of Scotland and Art in Healthcare.
Elena Mary Harris photographed at Kilmardinny House and Arts Centre, East Dunbartonshire
Elena says:
“I want to create spaces where people, who often go unheard, will be listened to and encouraged to speak up in audiences they may not otherwise have access to. Creative arts are a way to put these ideas and opinions forward and can create a starting point for people to share their experiences and have an impact on decision making that affects them and their community. I would propose to take a multimedia approach to Phase 1 of the Remembering Together project, drawing from my experience of working across video, sound and printmaking to give people the opportunity to explore different ways of expressing their ideas and experiences. I feel that advocacy approaches to art making should be applied to participatory projects to achieve co-production successfully and meaningfully.”
“I was excited by working as the Phase 1 Remembering Together artist for East Dunbartonshire from the moment of reading the brief. I was struck with greenspace, ED Council and ED Leisure and Culture Trust’s use language around co-creation, explicit focus on creative advocacy and how this fits so closely alongside the ethics of my own practice. I can’t wait to get in and around the East Dunbartonshire community, using a variety of different creative mediums (including print, video and spoken word) to find out what people in the area would really want for a COVID memorial in their area. So if anyone living or working in East Dunbartonshire has any ideas or want to get involved, I really look forward to reflecting and creating alongside you all!”