A new art installation highlighting the role of carers in the community is set to be projected onto Kingston's Ancient Market House on 19 January. 

The culmination of a two-year project working with carers, who are often excluded from cultural activities because of their responsibilities, Heart of Care is an artwork made up of a series of images with a sound score that will be projected in public spaces. 

Participant Penni Cotton said: "Heart of Care has been cathartic for carers. The poetry sessions helped us to gain trust in each other, release our pent-up feelings and gain confidence in ourselves as poets.   

"Further artistic input encouraged us to visually represent our words and, finally, feel brave enough to add movement to our experiences. This creativity has released us from responsibility and allowed us to be ourselves."   

The images were inspired by movement workshops, then developed into curated images, expressing the compassion displayed in the role of carer.  

The artwork will be over 10 metres high and projected over the course of one to two hours (5:30-6:30pm), accompanied by original music composed by Matthew Peters blended with poems written by carers and recorded in their own voices.  

During the pandemic, Rosetta Life formed a carers' chorus who performed alongside stroke survivors in the online opera I Look For The Think.  

Inspired by the group, Rosetta Life extended their activities with carers, and partnered with Helix Arts, Bristol Black Carers and Kingston Carers' Network to create a new project in new communities, including North Tyneside, Bristol and Kingston.  

The project acknowledges the dedication, sacrifice and profound impact of caregiving, and gives and offers carers a platform to express their experiences creatively.   

Lucinda Jarrett, Creative Director of Rosetta Life, said: "All our societies rely on families to care for people who cannot manage alone; however, carers often feel invisible and unrecognised.   

"Heart of Care will create public art works to share dynamic images of care that illustrate the resilience, strength, dignity and joy of caring." 

Carers found the sessions invoked a mixture of feelings like joy, happiness, sadness, and a recognition that they often felt unappreciated, but all told that they felt motivated to share their feelings with each other.   

The Heart of Care projections emerged from a project started by the Heart of Care Alliance, an alliance of international organisations who are working together to raise awareness for the role of carers in our societies.