World of Work Exhibition
The Communication Workers Union represents 5,500 members in the postal and telecommunication industries in Northern Ireland. This exhibition is a first of its kind for the union in Northern Ireland and is designed to facilitate workers with the opportunity to not only to participate but through self expression show their artistic talents.
The concept for this exhibition came from the union’s involvement in the setting up of the school of music within Royal Mail. This clearly demonstrated there was within the workforce, a large diverse pool of artistically talented individuals. These individuals expressed a strong desire for a more diverse type of learning in which, self expression would be encouraged.
A survey was carried out to establish how much interest existed within the workforce for this type of initiative. The results indicated there was a demand for classes, such as Yoga, Salsa dancing, digital photography and art. These classes were run and well attended and formed the bases for the exhibition.
This exhibition is designed to give maximum support and encouragement to those workers who will be submitting exhibits. We will also give maximum exposure to their work by publishing a calendar for 2008 which will incorporate selected items from the exhibition. We will also produce a catalogue, which will display all the items exhibited in the exhibition.
The calendar and catalogue will be circulated to the widest possible audience throughout Ireland and the U.K.
Gerry Robinson
Communication Workers Union.
Regional Project Worker
Supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council