Lockdown Landscapes Accessibility Page
This an online version of the outdoor sound installation ‘Lockdown Landscapes’ by artist Tasawar Bashir, produced in partnership with Sampad South Asian Arts and Heritage and the National Memorial Arboretum.
KERKUDE AND NORTH SEA OIL
FEHR
MOTHERS FAITH
SHEBINA
Sensitivity warning: this piece contains themes of grief and loss.
It was Easter Sunday during lockdown.
Shebina was at her mother’s side in hospital,
when she died. At that time, visiting a loved
one in hospital was restricted and in a
bittersweet recollection Shebina felt she
was “one of the lucky ones.”
Lockdown was a most challenging time in
her life; in the midst of grief, she took time o_
work to protect her mental health. Shebina was
always the rock for everyone but through those
dark times her family and her faith played a
massive part in her recovery.
Family walks in Warley Woods lifted her
lethargy, in Calthorpe Park a quince tree
brought lightness to the grieving process, and
team-building sessions with fellow community
charity workers in Cannon Hill Park inspired her
to realise; “I have to be with people, I want to
be with people, we are better together, we’re
stronger together as a community”.
TOLKIEN’S GOALPOST’S
KAMAL
Television producer Kamal was really
worried. He had been amongst 54,000
hysterical football fans who had just
witnessed Liverpool get knocked out of the
Champion’s League competition by Atletico
Madrid. Driving back home along the M6 he
remembers someone coughing. Had it been
wise for so many people to congregate
when there was news of a disease killing
scores of older people in northern Italy?
At home Kamal was the sole carer for his
octogenarian mother. The news would later
emerge that South Asians, especially Bengali
elders, were in the highest risk category for
Covid-19. When his mother did fall ill and was
admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kamal
thought he was seeing her for the last time.
Walking outdoors he found
some neglected goalkeeper
posts in a field next to
Moseley Bog – J. R. R. Tolkien’s
stomping ground and
inspiration for his books.
A brand new set of yellow
TRX exercise cables were hung
over the rickety goalposts, and
for three months while his mother
made a slow recovery Kamal and
his best friend enjoyed dawn workouts
in the mystical surroundings.
THE HERON AND THE MERMAID
LARA
During lockdown Lara became a food bank
volunteer and delivery driver, helping families
and individuals the system had forgotten who
had no access to furlough or emergency
money. Her realisation was quick; for the sake
of the people she was helping, it was vital for
she herself to keep sane.
Food parcel drops became increasingly
regular, allowing tentative friendships to form
over weeks and months. Mundane
conversations such as when visiting a
hairdresser were now given unexpected
gravitas. Nothing beat quality time chatting
nonsense with a best mate, enjoying long
meandering walks across the streets and
fields of King’s Norton, or along the Route Five
canal paths when an encounter with a heron
felt like an epiphany.
THE PHILOSOPHER’S CAFE
IBRAHEEM
When lockdown was announced the first
thing that occurred to Ibrahim was to
read philosophy books that had been
gathering dust in his apartment.
The list of authors was daunting;
Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and
Albert Camus amongst others.
Lockdown gave Ibraheem permission
to take things at a slower pace and reflect
on big questions about the meaning of life.
Very quickly he realised the books were
dense, unwieldy and difficult. Instead
YouTube became his teacher, and he spent
many long hours learning about biblical
history and Quantum Theory.
When restrictions were lifted Ibraheem
craved to be around other people – but not
too close. Nearby to where he lived,
numerous co_ee shops and sheesha
lounges located on Stratford Road offered
the perfect balance of being around other
human beings whilst still immersed in
private thoughts and reflections.
THE SMITH AND NEPHEW MOSQUE
KHALID
The Smith and Nephew factory on
Ludlow Road in Birmingham was previously
known as Southalls, and earlier still as
Charford Mill. During the 1980s it became
a mosque that was built with money
donated by Kashmiris who worked in local
warehouses, foundries, and bakeries.
Khalid couldn’t remember even a single
day when the mosque was closed. Just
before the first light each morning he
would take a short walk from his home
to join a small group of men who would
form a close-knit line, face the direction of
Mecca and collectively perform the fajr
prayer – the first of five daily prayers. This
had been his routine for around forty years.
It usually takes war or pestilence to
close the doors of a mosque, and it
was a double-shock to the community
when collective funeral prayers
couldn’t be performed for elders who
died from Covid-19. A sacred space
meant for bringing people together
became another reminder of people’s
isolation from each other.