During autumn 2025, Seeta Patel Dance collaborated with community organisations across Bristol to develop a series of weekly creative programmes shaped by participants’ voices.
Each group explored questions around connection, activism, belonging, and cultural identity. Through workshops, discussion, and creative practice, participants shared stories and perspectives on solidarity across generations and communities.
The project engaged over 60 participants from across the city, working with groups including:
The work created through the project was presented in the Anatomy of Solidarity exhibition, which ran at M Shed in Bristol from 10 March to 12 April 2026.
Anatomy of Solidarity is a community-led project produced by Seeta Patel Dance, project-managed by Katy Noakes, with producer Jess O’Neil.
The project explores how communities come together through culture, creativity, and collective action.
It began with conversations between Seeta and her mother about Bristol’s united response to racism in the 1970s. Their memories reflected how diverse communities stood together, transforming adversity into resilience and solidarity. These reflections became the starting point for a project that honours Bristol’s history while asking a timely question: What does solidarity mean today?
On 1 April 2026, all the groups that contributed to the exhibition came together.
This event provided an opportunity for participants, along with family and friends, to:
The Anatomy of Solidarity exhibition opened at M Shed, Bristol, as a dynamic showcase celebrating the voices, skills, and imagination of the city. It featured original work from Latinas in Bristol, The Art Against War Club, and creativeShift with St Paul’s Printmakers.
The exhibition asks: What does solidarity look like in Bristol today? What happens when communities unite to create? These questions are brought to life through a vibrant, community-led showcase inspired by Bristol’s long history of collective action and resistance.
All artworks were approved by both M Shed and Bristol City Council before the exhibition launch. However, shortly after opening, the exhibition was temporarily closed while certain artworks were reviewed by Bristol City Council. Some pieces now feature redactions, where references to Elbit and BAE Systems were removed. The works have since been reinstated with these adjustments.
Throughout this process, we worked closely with our cultural colleagues at M Shed, Bristol City Council, and, in particular, The Art Against War Club, who were significantly affected.
Although museum colleagues acted in good faith to resolve the issues surrounding the temporary closure and removal of artworks, the unfolding events and changing decisions echoed the obfuscation often surrounding Bristol’s complex connections with the arms trade—precisely the issues that The Art Against War Club seeks to highlight.
We deeply regret the distress caused to all the city’s communities who contributed to the exhibition. At the same time, we welcome the opportunity that both the exhibition and these events provide to illuminate topics that often remain unspoken.
Bristol is a City of Sanctuary. Yet it is also entangled with companies that profit from manufacturing the weapons that drive people to seek sanctuary. This is an issue we can no longer ignore.
Projects
