Sarah Maple is an award winning multidisciplinary artist known for bold artworks that challenge notions of identity.
The artist:
‘Mother Tongue’ came from a residency at Bradford Museums in 2023/24. I asked myself: how does migration impact on people, place and the generations that come after? How do second, third, fourth (etc) generations change and stay in touch with their cultural identity? Can this cause identity confusion or conflict within families between the old and new generation? What does this say about British Identity? Does it matter?
‘Mother Tongue’ is a video piece exploring these questions, focusing on the loss of heritage languages with second and third generation immigrants the UK. It takes the format of a classic 1980’s style language tape which starts with simple beginner phrases, such as ‘My name is Sarah, I live in Crawley, what is the time?’. Amongst these, more meaningful and sentimental phrases are interspersed, for example ‘I wish I learned Punjabi when you were alive’. The language tape is interrupted by very short visual stories/scenes inspired by conversations with Bradford residents. The visuals are in the style of the ‘Belle Vue’ archive at Bradford Museums. ‘Belle Vue’ was a photography studio which many migrants to Britain visited for official photographs – many of which were sent back home to Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. This work highlights the importance of language, heritage and cultural ties.
‘I Hate Men’ is an ironic take on the pregnancy reveal photo. Here I parody Beyonce’s iconic pregnancy shoot holding feminist literature ‘I Hate Men'.