AN UPLIFTING and emotional film and photographic exhibition about how Coventry came out of the Government’s Covid restrictions will take place at the city’s Holy Trinity Church at 6.30pm on Wednesday, March 16..

The ‘Emerging From Lockdown’ film – created using the voices of 25 Coventry people – will be screened almost exactly two years since the first UK lockdown began.

There will also be a talk on the research which underpins the film’s creative narrative, along with the exhibition of the Coventry Photographic Grid Project, including 198 photographs.

Prof Jackie Hodgson, of Warwick Law School, who has worked on Grid Projects in other parts of the country including Birmingham, cast a photographic gaze onto Coventry post-pandemic as part of the University of Warwick’s 12-month Resonate Festival during the UK City of Culture.

Coventry residents turned ‘smartphone photographers’ took to the streets to capture a small area of the city centre over two weeks last August.

Prof Hodgson helped produce a film with a narrative read by Coventry-born actor Bharti Patel, who plays Ruhma Carter in BBC soap Doctors.

It weaves the voices of the 25 Coventry people interviewed by University of Warwick researchers, into a story written by Warwick graduate and creative writer Georgie Evans and also features images from this mass participation public photographic project.

Prof Hodgson said: “The experiences captured in this project strike a chord with people – some found the film really emotional coming out of the isolation of lockdown and what we’ve all been through collectively.”

She added she was really proud of the film which had been an exciting and innovative way to reflect on her research in creative ways communicating it to a wider audience.

“These are Coventry voices, but they resonate more widely, reflecting the experiences of so many of us.

“It is reflective and sobering, but also uplifting.

“I am pleased we have captured these voices now – it represents a great piece of local social history.”

The Grid Project

The Grid Project – a map-based photographic survey of central Coventry in August 2021 – was carried out by photography and graphic design teacher Dave Allen.

Mr Allen said: “The area covered by this project is small.

“It spans the area from the Transport Museum in the north, the Cathedral and Herbert Art Gallery and Museum to the east, The Wave to the south and the retail market to the west.

“Each location was only 70 metres from the next, giving a very dense grid.

“The locations were photographed twice to allow maximum participation in the project, with nearly 200 photographs being produced.”

Visit thegridproject.org.uk for more.