Whitechapel Gallery

Over the course of two years, a group of women from City Gateway Women’s Programmes met regularly to explore what it means to ‘have a voice’, as part of The Whitechapel Gallery’s project Voices That Matter. In the wake of successive closures of women’s spaces in the Borough – in particular the Matrix-designed Jagonari Centre – it felt all the more urgent to be exploring the importance of creating spaces to form community with other women.

Kate Smith led the first year of this project, guiding creative sessions that started with the idea of ‘voice’ as an expression of the body, created by the lungs and carried on the breath, conveying not only our thoughts and emotions, but also supporting our well-being. Over time, the sessions opened into deeper conversations about 'voice' relating to our culture, identities, and personal stories, as well as the political implications of speaking out and being heard.

The project came to a pause in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Fall of 2020, we decided to pick up the project in a different form. Most of the women did not have regular Internet access, or the use of home computers, nor could we gather in person. Using WhatsApp, Kate initiated a series of audio and visual prompts, asking the group to respond with videos and sound recordings. Drawing on recordings of the earlier workshops and material from these WhatsApp messages, Kate then composed a sound piece called Sharsh which translates in English to ‘breath’. In Autumn 2021, we met to distribute Sharsh via QR codes around the streets between City Gateway and the Whitechapel Gallery, which exists as an invitation to listen to the music inspired by our breath.

Hussina Raja, an artist and performer, led the second year of this project. Through a series of sessions in Spring and Summer 2021, Hussina facilitated sessions held at City Gateway that focused on the camera as a tool for self-expression and taking ownership over one’s own narrative. Each group member was given a pack containing art materials and tools that would enable the women to use their phones to begin recording their own lives, with Hussina offering prompts that encouraged the group to consider what story they wanted to tell. Hussina eventually created a short film titled Bidesi Mohila, which translates in English to ‘travelling women’, a reference to the experience of building a life and family in London, whilst longing for Bangladesh. Kate Smith adapted the sound piece, Sharsh, to provide a soundtrack to the film.