Shore Porters Assist City Council
23rd February 2008 Underprivileged youngsters in the East African Republic of Uganda are to benefit from the efforts of knitting enthusiasts from across the North-east following the recent conclusion of an innovative arts project.
Last year, almost 600 local knitters collaborated with Glasgow-based artist Chris Biddlecombe and the Aberdeen City Council Arts Development team to create a community artwork to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the translantic slave trade in Britain.
The project, which was part of a series of events and exhibitions held in Aberdeen to mark the 200th anniversary of the legal end of slavery, was sponsored by Johnston’s of Elgin and JC Rennie & Co, with the finished ‘Cast-offs’ artwork being exhibited in the city’s Kirk of St. Nicholas.
The artistic installation created during the ‘Cast-offs’ project was made up of hundreds of hand-knitted jumpers, each one representing a child kidnapped from the North-east of Scotland between 1740 and 1746 and sold into indentured service in the plantations of Philadelphia.
Now, the 700 jumpers which formed the finished piece are to be sent to help clothe babies born to young girls abducted in Uganda, as part of an international effort – in collaboration with the charity Feed the Children UK – to combat child slavery across the globe.
Lesley Thomson, Aberdeen City Council’s Community Arts Manager said: “Either in a group, or individually, each knitter was charged with writing a short piece of text, or creating a small line drawing, based upon their personal response to the issues of slavery – and along with the jumpers, these formed the installation which Chris constructed at the Kirk of St. Nicholas.
“Now that the ‘Cast-offs’ piece has been deconstructed, the jumpers will begin their long journey to Africa, with valuable support from The Shore Porters’ Society. They have kindly offered to transport them to Feed the Children's headquarters at Reading, ready for onward shipping to Uganda, where they will provide much needed night time warmth for some of its poorest children.”
The Shore Porters’ Society has a long history of supporting charitable causes. In the past year it has helped transport clothes, toys and books to Zimbabwe on behalf of the Bulawayo Mayor’s Children’s Fund, lent its support to the Perth Youth Orchestra by transporting its instruments during a tour of Poland and provided free storage for local North-east cancer charity CLAN (Cancer Link Aberdeen and North).
Shore Porters’ Society partner, Kevin Brown, said: “This is a tremendous project which we believe will have a real impact on the lives of young families in Uganda and we are more than happy to lend our support to such a worthwhile cause.”
|
Latest News 
