A new Banner for Hope at the Harris
Unfurling a new Banner for Hope at the Harris
The artists and poets behind our current exhibition The Unfurlings: Banners for Hope & Change have created a new banner celebrating the NHS and our health and social care workers. On the day when we all #ClapForOurCarers we’re delighted to share this new artwork and poem, along with the chance for everyone to get involved.
Artists Ian Beesley and Tony Husband have taken inspiration from a banner in the collection of the People’s History Museum in Manchester, produced for the Confederation of Health Service Employees.
Ian has kept the swirling acanthus leaves and ribbon design at the top but changed the central motif to a heart to represent health and caring. The colours he has used are all symbolic – yellow for hope and blue to represent the NHS. Cartoonist Tony Husband has drawn four different scenes inside the heart to showcase NHS work.
He has also drawn crowds of people applauding their efforts. At the top of banner is a portrait of Anuerin Bevan, the founder of the NHS, and a picture of Park Hospital Trafford – one of the first NHS hospitals. The time of the clock has been set at 8pm – the time on a Thursday we all come together to #ClapForOurCarers. Poet Ian McMillan has written a new poem on this subject.
Get creative
Below you’ll find a blank template of this NHS-inspired banner. Right click, save image, print and design your very own artwork and slogans.
A poem by Ian McMillan
You can hear more poems, and the stories of people living with dementia by visiting our exhibition page The Unfurlings: Banners for Hope & Change.
Poem frameworks – write your own lyrics
There are also two ‘framework poems’ written by Ian McMillan for you to complete as a creative writing exercise: I’ll Make a Banner and A Week of Banners. We’d love you to share your banners and poems with us. Please email [email protected] or tag us on social media.
I’ll make a banner
I’ll make a banner
To show my life
And all the things around me
My *** *** ***
My *** *** ***
The warm glow that surrounds me
I’ll make a banner
To show my world
And all the things I’m seeing
The *** *** ***
The *** *** ***
The joy of simply being
I’ll make a banner
To show to those
Who help me all the time
The *** *** ***
The *** *** ***
I’ll write them down in rhyme!
A week of banners
Monday’s banner
Looks like this:
**** *** ***
Give us a kiss!
Tuesday’s banner
Is bright and shiny
*** *** ***
It’s not tiny!
Wednesday’s banner
Is tall and proud
Thursday’s banner
Hold it high
*** ***
In the Preston sky!
Friday’s banner
Touch the heart
*** ***
A work of art!
Saturday’s banner
Big and bold
*** ***
Solid gold!
Sunday’s banner
Best we’ve got
About the Artists
Ian Beesley is an acclaimed artist and photographer whose work is in collections around the world – from the National Media Museum in Bradford to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and has previously worked at UCLan in Preston.
Tony Husband’s cartoons have appeared in countless publications – most notably Private Eye. He has won more than 15 major awards including the Pont Award for depicting the British way of life. He lives in the North West.
Ian McMillan is a poet, journalist, playwright and broadcaster – widely known as the presenter on BBC Radio 3’s The Verb. Born in Darfield South Yorkshire, where he still lives, McMillan is well known for delivering his poetry in his distinctive Yorkshire accent. In 2010 he was a castaway on Desert Island Disk with Kirsty Young. You can listen to his interview & music picks here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vr9l2.
