Exploring the Pansy’s history as a symbol of resistance, artist Paul Harfleet and PoliNations’ design director Carl Robertshaw will be in conversation discussing Paul’s Pansy Project which sees him planting pansies at the site of homophobic attacks across the world. They’ll also consider how design can take inspiration from nature and how this has been reflected across the PoliNations site.

Paul Harfleet plants pansies at the site of homophobic abuse; he finds the nearest source of soil to where the incident occurred and generally without civic permission plants one unmarked pansy. The flower is then documented in its location and the image is titled after the abuse. Titles like “Let’s kill the Bati-man!” and “Fucking Faggot!” reveal a frequent reality of LGBTQ+ experience, which often goes unreported to authorities. This simple action operates as a gesture of quiet resistance; some pansies flourish, others wilt in urban hedgerows. Explore the Pansey Project and more about Paul this way.

Carl Robertshaw is a unique multidisciplinary designer and artist, working with an inclusive approach at the intersection of performance, engineering and fine art. Over the past 25 years Carl has enjoyed collaborating with artists such as Bjork, Kylie Minogue, Hussein Chalayan, Take That, Peter Gabriel, Anohni, Coldplay, Editors and Ellie Goulding. Carl’s work has been celebrated on world stages such as The Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show, New York’s Radio City Music Hall, Manchester International Festival and the 2012 London Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. Find out more about Carl's work here.

This event will feature BSL interpretation throughout.