Mother Tongue – Sarah Maple

Two new artworks by artist Sarah Maple have a been specially created for Bradford District Museums and Galleries (BDMG).

As artist in residence, Maple has been working with Bradford District Museums and Galleries for the project, creating new artworks based on Bradford’s collection, her mixed cultural upbringing, and the experiences of Bradford residents.

Her new video work ‘Mother Tongue’ reflects on the importance of language, heritage, and cultural ties.  Maple herself grew up with her mother’s Punjabi-speaking family, but never learnt the language herself.

‘My Grandmother spoke no English… and we were incredibly close, even though we never had a full conversation… I felt like this distanced me from my cultural identity as an Asian person. I thought this work would resonate with many people who never learnt their Mother Tongues.’

The setting of the film echoes photos from Belle Vue Studio. Many newcomers to Bradford had their portraits taken there from 1926 until it closed in 1975.

In her second work, ‘Plait Performance’, Maple has created a body of 7 photographs in which she is portrayed standing within Bradford Museum and Galleries’ buildings. She is wearing a contemporary Punjabi outfit with a 10 meter plait – a reference to her Grandmother who always wore a long, traditional plait. She is alone in these grand spaces that store, as well as present, artworks and objects in the Bradford Museum and Galleries’ collections. In all photos, except one, Maple is seen from behind, passively viewing the collection items and the building as her plait trails to the floor and snakes away from her body, as if escaping. This represents the feelings of first-generation migrants on their arrival to Britain from countries with different climates, architecture and cultures.

This display is the outcome of Bradford District Museums and Galleries being part of the 20/20 project a 3-year programme led by the University of the Arts Decolonising Arts Institute with funding from Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England and UAL.

*Please note, that one of the pieces of artwork (a film) includes imagery of removal of a tongue as metaphor for communication.