A new artist has been appointed to lead a multicultural history project in Honiton.
British-Mexican artist, facilitator, and food grower Ione Maria Rojas will be the creative force behind the Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots project.
Ms Rojas is known for her unique approach that combines mark-making, drawing, and writing to foster conversations about our relationship with each other and the environment.
She has extensive experience running creative workshops for Key Stage 2 primary children in Devon and Cornwall.
For this project, she will collaborate with Offwell School, Honiton Library, and Thelma Hulbert Gallery.
Her practice raises thought-provoking questions about the impact of small acts of creativity and the role of hands-on work in sparking new conversations.
Jess Huffman, Honiton project coordinator for Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots, said: "The shortlisting panel felt Ione answered the brief well.
"We are confident that she could work with us to ensure the materials she uses will reflect something of the stories we are telling as well as be immersive and fun for the children she’ll be working with.
"The workshop suggestions sound really engaging and we felt excited about how this might materialise as a tangible exhibition piece for later in the year.
"We felt Ione’s personal experience will ensure her work aligns closely and sympathetically with the project themes and she could bring something new to the project that will help us engage audiences in a different way."
On her appointment, Ms Rojas expressed her enthusiasm and excitement for the project and its exploration of Honiton's lesser-known histories.
She said: "I think there's a lot of polarisation that happens with the urban-rural divide, with many people moving to the cities to experience a more diverse culture.
"Yet there are these multicultural histories that pulse through the countryside too, with pastoral England being inseparable from the realities of colonisation - a past that deserves a closer look.
"This opportunity offers a creative and tangible way in to doing so, getting to know the stories of individuals who've lived in the town, imagining into their realities."
Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots is funded by the Creative East Devon Fund through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and kicks off this month.
The exhibition, featuring the final project piece, will open on November 22 at Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, and will be on display until December 22.
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