October 24, 2022 We were glad to work with Heart of Glass once again during their Takeover Festival 2022. We participated by hosting poet Ella Otomewo from the 24th of October. For two weeks, Ella stationed herself on the shop floor, working on a poem for St Helens with her typewriter. Ella’s inspiration came from the discussions she had with our customers, gathering as much information as she could from all demographics of St Helen’s occupants. At the end of her residency, Ella’s poem was finished. She then set to work scribing the poem on the windows of the store. Ex Terra Lucem: A Poem For St Helens remains our windows and is available free from the shop in the form of a pamphlet produced by Heart of Glass.
Ex Terra Lucem by Ella Otomewo in collaboration with people from St Helens.
For those proud of the concrete;
in its grey, and grit, and might,
it is written boldly on the walls:
Out of the earth, came light.
For stories that stick to the slimy bricks
of the old Sankey Canal.
Every voice here has its own wild tale;
your aunt, your nan, your pal.
While post industrial chimmneys
fill the air with smoke and gas,
the people's spirit shines bright and clear
like it were forged from molten glass.
This is a rally cry for the future,
to build up and not lose sight,
for if we mine untapped potential -
From the ground, comes light!
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