The Encyclopedia of Us (EofUs) has developed out of a long-term collaboration with HU3/ Docklands communities of West Hull, artist Kate Genever and arts company Three Ways East. Collectively we make visible and hold safe HU3’s many stories, while working alongside its communities to imagine and shape the future.
EofUs is a co-production with residents, artists, groups, businesses and organisations. With an ambition to create congenial spaces in place, in print, in person.
Outcomes include the You Can’s we develop; HuFree Gallery in Western Library; the portrait project We believe in love not luck with Tony Ward at Top Color; HU3 Come to Tea festival; Flower Club with Tommy the florist at Rayners Pub and the newspaper Encyclopedia of Us. We are also currently exploring the area’s important working class gay and drag performance scene of the 1980s and 90s through the project Scene but not heard.
Our approach is purposefully patient. We recognise that HU3 has been neglected and overlooked and that when it has had attention it has been ‘done to’. We also know that community-led is a complex idea, with no one size fits all answer. When first invited to HU3, in 2018, we were told by residents that this is a place with little self-esteem and little confidence, yet we could see remarkable people, doing remarkable things. However they were largely invisible, overlooked from both inside and outside. We aim to uncover these strengths and build on them where we can.
hello@eofus.co.uk
Current or recent supporters include:
JF Brignall Charitable Trust
Arts Council England
Hull City Council
Hull Martime Project
National Lottery Community Fund
CHCP Hull
Humber Museums Partnership
HIstoric England – Everyday History
Heritage Lottery Fund
