MAPPING OUR BETTER LIFE

CLIENT: British Library
FACILITATOR: Thahmina Begum
CURATOR: Court Spencer
DATE: Feb - Mar 2024
VENUE: Leeds Playhouse

Mapping Our Better Life showcases artworks created as part of a project with a group of young people seeking asylum in the UK who are in the care of Leeds City Council. The project is part of an ongoing collaboration between the British Library and Leeds Children and Families Social Work Services.

The British Library cares for over 170 million items including more than four million maps, charts, atlases and globes. Like the rest of the Library, the map collection is free for everyone to access. The project began with a trip to the Library to see a selection of maps. This encouraged the young people to begin reflecting on their own journeys, leaving their homes and coming to the UK.