Projects
Contents
About Personal Expressions
Preface by Professor Paul Hill
Introduction text by Patrick Loughlin MP
Personal Expressions
In 2001 High Peak and Dales Primary Care Trust established the Farm Out Health Project. A
key task was to find out how far the economic decline in farming had affected the health and
well-being of the local hill farming community. The findings revealed that whilst there were
individual farmers who enjoyed good health, this appeared not to be the common experience.
Mental well-being was a particular issue with farmers, who cited rural isolation, farming problems
and financial worries as contributing factors.
Derbyshire Young Farmers represent the future health and well-being of hill farming in the Peak District. Personal Expressions aimed to use the arts as a means to consult, energise and support these young people their own process of discovery. Under the management of REAP, the project gained the support of a wide partnership of organisations from the health, education and training, and arts sectors.
Since its inception in May 2004, Personal Expressions has given Young Farmers across Derbyshire
a unique opportunity to express themselves creatively through photography. Briefs entitled
'Self, Family and Community', 'The Working Landscape', 'Challenges, Aspirations and Future',
and more recently "Our Farming Heritage" provided the main themes. Participants were
encouraged to be as imaginative as possible within these themes, as well as with their finished
product, which could take the form of a mounted print, a projection, an installation or even
a multi-media presentation.
Time was invested in uncovering and exploring the issues, practices and challenges that
colour the day today lives of farming families and also in discussing the young peoples'
aspirations for the future. With the support, advice and technical expertise of a team of
professional photographers, the Young Farmers have gained a unique experience of the art
of visual communication.
In addition to the visual arts, the project has given the young people opportunities to develop skills and knowledge in disciplines such as mounting and framing, marketing, design, printing and curating.
The Derbyshire Young Farmers have participated enthusiastically in a project that has offered
them a new voice to express their thoughts, feelings and aspirations about farming and rural
life in the Peak District. Their Personal Expressions are now presented for all to see.
The exhibition has been on national tour, so as to widen its audience and further celebrate
the achievements of the young people and the issues and lives they have creatively explored.
The tour included:
- Buxton Museum and Art Gallery (December 2005 – February 2006)
- Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax (July – September 2006)
- DEFRA Headquarters, Nobel House, London (November – December 2006)
- Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole, North Yorkshire (January – February 2007)
- Upper Waiting Hall, House of Commons, London (March 2007)
- Museum of English Rural Life, Reading (March – May 2007)
- The Fold Gallery, Cumbria (May – September 2007)
