A captivating exhibition by London based Syrian artist, Sara Shamma, is on display in Ely Cathedral’s Lady Chapel this October.
The exhibition focusses on the global issue of modern slavery which began as Sara Shamma’s personal response to the plight of enslaved Yazidi women and girls. Having become aware of the display and sale of women and girls in slave markets in Syria and Iraq, Shamma was moved to explore, and draw attention to, the psychological effect of modern slavery and the impact of this inspired her academic research work (including interviews with women who have experienced modern slavery) on survival, endurance and recovery. She focussed on these issues during her 2019 residency at King’s College, London, based within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), in partnership with Dr Sian Oram and the Helen Bamber Foundation.
Ely Cathedral’s Canon Jessica Martin says “The Lady Chapel is a fitting space for a body of work exploring vulnerability, violence and resilience in the female body. It is dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, yet shows in its stone sculpture all the scars and damage of the Reformation iconoclasts, who left almost no image of the human body within it undamaged”.
The 13 paintings and oil sketches, some as large as 2.5 metres, depict thought provoking and arresting images as a means of drawing attention to this global issue. It is estimated that human trafficking and modern slavery impacts around 40 million people worldwide.
The exhibition will be on display in Ely Cathedral’s Lady Chapel from 7th to 31st October which coincides with Anti-Slavery Day on 18th October. There will also be two lectures on this issue – one by the artist herself (6th October) and another by the author and broadcaster Louise Hulland (11th October). To correspond with this, members of the local WI and Mother’s Union groups will be running a modern slavery craft exhibition where members of the public are invited to make a chain or links from wool and other fabrics.
Further information about the exhibition, the artist and the lectures can be found at www.elycathedral.org
Press release from Ely Cathedral
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