Social History / St Paul's Riots
Archiving stories from the 1980 St Paul’s uprising
The not-for-profit art organisation Empathy Museum is the brainchild of artist and curator Clare Patey, who creates participatory roaming exhibits and installations, aided by a small team of project managers and artistic collaborators.
Exhibits to date include From Where I’m Standing, a series of audio portraits and stories from 2020, Human Library – in which in you borrow a person (a ‘living book’) for a conversation; the ‘crowd-sourced travelling library’ A Thousand and One Books, and the award-winning A Mile in My Shoes, a giant shoebox in which people are invited to step literally into other people’s shoes, while listening to their stories.
Accompanying their shoes, the diverse range of stories encapsulated within the shoebox to date include recollections from a war veteran, a neurosurgeon, a Syrian refugee and a sex worker, as well as stories gathered around themes of health and social care, nursing, migration, and the year of the young person.
is needed now More than ever
The stories cover different aspects of life, from loss and grief to hope and love and take the visitor on an empathetic as well as a physical journey.
A Mile in My Shoes, Empathy Museum – photo by Paul Campbell
For their latest iteration of A Mile in My Shoes, Empathy Museum is calling for black people with a connection to the uprisings that began in St Paul’s, Bristol in April 1980, and then continued the following year in other locations including Brixton in London, Handsworth in Birmingham Toxteth in Liverpool and Manchester’s Moss Side.
To coincide with the 40th anniversary of these national uprisings, many new personal stories will be gathered and amplified, making for a powerful and immersive experience for visitors to the installation that aims to increase empathy and understanding of British black history.
Burned out car in the aftermath of the St Paul’s riot, 3 April 1980 – photo: David Kirkpatrick
The violence in St Paul’s was a decisive moment in the modern history of Bristol, and the catalyst for a decade of further civil unrest in UK cities as the country began to confront endemic racism.
The project leaders are attempting to reach as many people as possible that remember these historic events first-hand.
Empathy Museum is collaborating with 81 Acts and The Ubele Initiative, along with local communities, in shaping the project.
More information on the project and details of how to get involved can be found at www.empathymuseum.com. The new iteration of A Mile in My Shoes will be launched in 2022.
Main image: Empathy Museum
Read more: Remembering the St Paul’s Riots
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