Young People’s Art Project for Holocaust Memorial Day 2017

Photo: Rochdale Borough Multi-Faith Partnership

Young People’s Art Project for Holocaust Memorial Day 2017

Young People from different backgrounds across Rochdale Borough came together in a series of workshops in late 2016 to learn about the Holocaust.

The group was supported by Rochdale Youth Service and the workshops were facilitated by poet and educator Tony Walsh and by Vicky Lomax of Jamboree Arts.

The result is a mixed-media triptych which expresses the themes the young people explored, using poignant phrases, visual symbols and facts about the Holocaust and the people from different groups, nationalities and faiths who were targeted for extermination by the Nazi regime during World War II.

The work was unveiled at Number One Riverside, on 21 January by the young people themselves in the company of the Mayor and Mayoress, Ray and Elaine Dutton.

It will be on display until midday Saturday 18 February with a short break on Monday 30 January when it will be taken to the Town Hall, where it will form part of the Borough’s Annual Holocaust Memorial Commemoration.

The Commemoration takes place from 6.15 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. and everyone is welcome to attend. The theme for this year is 'How Can Life Go On'.

The artwork will then return to Number One Riverside for the rest of the time, which will incorporate Greater Manchester’s Hate Crime Awareness Week.

A spokesperson for the Borough of Rochdale Multi-Faith Partnership, which organises the Annual HMD Commemoration, said: "We would like to thank the Borough’s Youth Workers, Tony Walsh, Vicky Lomax, RMBC Neighbourhood Cohesive Communities Department and all the young people themselves for their hard work and support in making this project come to life."