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Saturday 19 February to Sunday 12 June 2022Holding the Baby is an exhibition of new photographic work by artist Polly Braden, creating a portrait of the strength and resilience of single parent families facing austerity.
Inspired by a United Nations report by poverty expert Philip Alston in 2019, which stated that single parents have been hardest hit by austerity measures in the UK, Braden began an extensive participatory project. The resulting photographic portraits and interviews highlight the lived experience, challenges and strength of single parents facing austerity.
With help from charities, law firms, community hubs, and arts and women’s organisations, Braden has been working with a number of single parents (several based in Bristol) over the last two years, including Fran, Jahanara, Charmaine, Aaron, Barbeline, Caroline, Gemma, Carike and their families to represent each of their stories.
The collaborative photographs (some taken by the parents themselves, once the camera was set up, during lockdown) encapsulate the families’ sense of adventure, optimism, creativity, ambition and resilience that transcends, the often difficult, situations faced.
Journalist Sally Williams has interviewed the parents and excerpts from these conversations are displayed alongside the photographs, whilst writer Claire-Louise Bennett has created a word collage with a wider group of single parents, sharing their reflections on ‘the favourite thing in their home.’ These are accompanied by often difficult to read data from statistician Rob Minto who has looked at what it means to be a single parent in the UK today.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, United Kingdom
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