A sense of hope for the future

GOVAN and Linthouse Parish Church in Glasgow presented A New Hope: an interactive floral installation which took place over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

As part of the church’s wider Easter celebrations, the installation transformed part of Govan Cross into an explosion of colour and flowers providing passers-by with an opportunity to stop, enjoy, reflect and respond to their feelings about the past year.

Local husband and wife team, Flowers Vermilion, worked with volunteers to create a large-scale installation of flowers and foliage that spanned the three entrance archways of the Church celebrating Easter, spring and renewed hope.

Members of the public were invited to take photographs alongside the arrangement, respond to set questions that encouraged reflection on the past year, leave a private response on one of the covered doors or to take away a real flower provided alongside the arches. The display allowed people to reflect on the harsh realities of living with the implications of Covid-19 but also to leave with a sense of hope for the future.

The church and Flowers Vermilion encouraged every community, organisation and individual in Glasgow to visit during its limited showing within government guidelines of the time. Even with the Covid-19 restrictions in place, hundreds of responses were received over the full weekend.

Jamie Goodwin, Arts and Worship Development Worker for Govan and Linthouse Parish, said: “We were delighted to have our local volunteers work alongside Flowers Vermilion to offer what was an excellent floral installation full of colour and a real celebration of that time of year.

A New Hope: an interactive floral installation

“Lockdown has been incredibly tough for many in our community and we hope that as restrictions begin to ease and vaccination roll out continues people will begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s incredibly important to reflect on what has happened and we believe A New Hope provided an opportunity to look back whilst also encouraging those to be hopeful for what is to come.’’

Terri Hawkins, who owns and runs Flowers Vermilion with her partner Angus, said: “This was a great project to be part of with an exciting brief, a large canvas to work with and the ability to work alongside local people.

“It’s excellent to work in our own city of Glasgow, especially on an installation seeking to brighten the local area and bring joy and hope at this time.”

The project was supported by the Bellahouston Trust and Faith in Community Scotland.