'Right to Roam' invites the local community of Oxford, visitors to the city, and those visiting us online to explore and learn about some key figures and events in Oxford’s history which disrupted the status quo in Human Rights discourse.Stopping at 13 locations, explore the city on our suggested route and at your own pace as you listen to the inspiring stories that have transpired.The tour will be accompanied by photos, videos, and audio clips, and will be a permanent route available to do in person or online.​In collaboration with the 'Conflictorium' in Gujarat, India, installations have been adapted from their museum to add interactive elements to our tour. Participate along the route through the 'Sorry Tree', 'Memory Lab', and 'Silhouettes'. See below for more details.So, get your walking boots on or tie up your virtual laces and enjoy learning about the history of the ‘City of Dreaming Spires’ in a new light!
This tour has been produced and curated by Anna Powell, Charlotte Clifford, Emily Warren, Omar Ibrahim and Sophy Botsford.
​Be part of our Sorry Tree: take a moment to pause, reflect, and offer a virtual ‘apology leaf’.This installation gives an opportunity to anonymously release the weight of unexpressed thoughts, as the tree continues to grow and shed its leaves, which might be particularly important during a time of disruption when many of us may be separated.​The permanence of the tree and the transience of the leaves will temporarily create a bridge between people as they share their apologies with one another.
The Memory Lab provides the opportunity to share your views on the stories told through the audio clips and photos at various locations during the walking tour.​A series of virtual ‘prompt jars’ will collect simple expressions, preserving the memories of everyone who takes part in the tour.Word prompts include ‘Empowering’, ‘Disheartening’, ‘Happy’, ‘Sad’, ‘Togetherness’, and ‘Loneliness’, to name a few.
A series of virtual Silhouettes of people of note from Oxford’s past and present who have contributed in the shaping of Human Rights.​This includes Malala Yousafzai, Christian Cole, as well as more contentious figures, the shadows of whose differences in thoughts and actions equally affect and inform our discussions today.Through the accompanying audio clips, we share a reflection on the influence they continue to have throughout our lives. Sit back and listen to how their stories unfold.
The interactive elements of the tour have been inspired by the ‘Conflictorium’ in Gujarat. Below is a statement provided:CLICK HERE TO WATCH A SHORT VIDEO“Conflictorium is a participatory museum that addresses the ideas, questions and structures of conflict. It is an initiative that brings together different sections of society to celebrate plurality and encourage conflict expression in creative ways, by facilitating dialogue through art and culture practice. The emphasis is on art, audience and archives where intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to peace and conflict are explored.At the museum, conflict is understood as everyday tensions and disruptions that often manufacture and reveal the larger fears, shame and guilt operating to build miscommunications and boundaries between people. While the idea of conflict conventionally refers to overt violences like war, we believe in deconstructing those acts to the smaller and seemingly simpler cracks in our perceptions of belongingness, empathy and community.We hope to be a democratic space that receives and accommodates multiple perspectives, experiences and dialogues. We interrogate various socio-cultural theories and praxes through community engagement and interactive and curatorial art, and urge our audiences to recognise and act upon our immediate surroundings with empathy and self reflexivity. Some of the many formats of our engagements are, permanent and temporary exhibits, events (films, poetry, sound, etc), monthly reading groups, zines, and residencies.”​