mir jansen

Mir Jansen is a visual artist and currently Arts Coordinator for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. She was a founding member of Sheffield's S1 Artspace, followed by becoming the Programme Manager at Yorkshire Artspace for 14 years. Resuming her own creative practice in 2014.

'I am interested in why people migrate and how people adapt to new ways of life, cultural changes, different languages. During and after my studies I was particularly interested in the notion of 'home'- particularly the spaces and boundaries we create within the places we live in. Part of the construction of the idea of home is to create a notion of being at home, a sense of belonging. I moved to the UK in 1987 from The Netherlands where I was born but I often forget that it took time and effort to adapt to a new way of life an language.

My current project, 'At Your Service', will be exhibited at Yorkshire Artspace, Sheffield from 27th September until 4th November as part of their Ways of Making exhibition programme. I interviewed 11 European employees of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals over the course of 1 year. Each individual talked to me about the place they came from, why they moved to the UK and each person was asked the same 6 questions: What was your reaction to Brexit? What do you miss about the country you moved from? What do you like about Sheffield? What do you like about the NHS? What are your concerns for the future of the NHS? What contribution do you think you make to life in the UK/Sheffield?'

We will be gathering at Yorkshire Artspace where Mir's current project 'At Your Service' is being exhibited. She will talk us through the chaos of her subject matter as we are surrounded by the works for our #CMchaos morning. Join us as we kick off our Autumn season.