Home Making

How do people actively make home in different places? How is this wisdom passed from homes to cities, across countries and generations? Home Making explores how making, play, learning and cooperation can forge a sense of purpose, belonging, and respite in times of change and uncertainty.

The exhibition started with ‘Housewarming’, a series of workshops designed by artists Sahra Hersi and Sofia Niazi in conversation with a group of women connected to Andalus Community Centre. Some of them were new to the UK, while others are long-term members of the community, and they have since come together to name themselves Rajo (after the Somali word for Hope).

The workshops created a space where the process of gathering to make together became a form of collective home making: not in the traditional sense, but as an act of making a space feel warm and welcoming through friendship, kinship, and creativity. The works displayed in the exhibition were produced during these sessions and are accompanied by new works from the artists.

They include a set of handmade doormats made by the Rajo group, alongside a large-scale textile piece by Sofia Niazi inspired by the artist’s mother’s garden. A ceramic tile artwork by Sahra Hersi depicts symbols of openness, collaboration, and solidarity explored by Rajo.

It is surrounded by plates and prints that include scenes, memories, and motifs that hold particular value for the group, and that speak to lived and imagined places and landscapes they shared in the process of getting to know each other.

Home Making celebrates the work of community organisations like Andalus Community Centre, and their ability to create a sense of home through support, friendship, and solidarity. Home Making is generously supported by Arts Council England, Sheffield Church Burgesses Trust, JG Graves Charitable Trust and Sheffield City Council (as part of Castlegate Festival 2025).