A suspended map of Leicester, built by hand from recycled paper pulp by fifty people across four workshops in spring 2026.
The map in progress at one of the workshops, mid-May 2026.
The map was made not by one pair of hands but by many. People who walk Leicester every day, who know its corners, its short-cuts, the bench where they sit when there is nowhere else, shaped the city out of paper that had already been thrown away once.
Working with The Centre Project and The Bridge, the project invited people experiencing homelessness in Leicester to sit at the same table and build the place they live in, piece by piece, from material the city had finished with. What sits now in the Samworth Gallery is the result of that, and of the conversations that filled the room while it was being made.
The point of the project was to bring people who have had a hard time of it closer to the city they live in, through something playful, low-stakes, and made together. Paper pulp was chosen for exactly that reason.
It is soft, forgiving, slightly silly to hold in the hand. There is nothing precious about it, and nothing to get wrong. You squeeze it through a bottle. You watch it sit on the surface. You move on. For participants who walked in nervous, or tired, or quiet, the medium did the early work of putting them at ease. The map followed from that.
The work was promoted across Leicester through partner channels and a small poster, opposite, inviting anyone with hands and a story to come and help build the city.
Each session shaped a different part of Leicester. Pulp was laid by hand onto a printed map, building up the city section by section, before the dried pieces were joined and finished together.
The historic core of the city. Participants from The Centre Project laid in the Cathedral itself, the Roman Jewry Wall, the resting place of Richard III, and the ruins of Leicester Abbey. The first pulp went down on a city that had been here for two thousand years.
A session held offsite at The Bridge, where Curve, the Phoenix, LCB Depot, the Haymarket and the Clock Tower were laid in. The modern, making heart of Leicester, shaped by people in the rooms where the city already gathers.
Both groups came together at the Cathedral. The two dried sections were joined along the seam, and the River Soar, Victoria Park, De Montfort University and the roads that hold the city together were laid down. Twenty people worked at the same table.
The pulp surface was dried, refined and brought to life with acrylic. Gold on the Cathedral spire, deeper greens on the parks, charcoal on the roads that run between every place on the map. The piece was readied for installation.
Participants were invited to talk about the places on the map that meant something to them. These are seven, anonymised and shared with permission. The voices are theirs.
I used to do cleaning jobs near where they found Richard III. Years ago, before any of that came up out of the ground. I'd be in there before the city woke up. Doesn't feel real, knowing I was that close to him all that time.
a participantI've struggled with a few things since I came out the army. Today was alright though. Sitting down, making something with my hands. I like that you can see what we did. It's actually quite good, isn't it.
a participantI've been here since I was small. Leicester's changed a lot but the Clock Tower hasn't. I used to meet my mum there after school. I still do, in my head sometimes.
a participantI came here three years back. Didn't know anyone. The first place I felt like a person again was the library. I'd sit in the warm and nobody asked anything of me. That's on the map somewhere, I hope.
a participantCastle Gardens. By the river bit. I go there when I need to not be around people. There's a tree I sit under. It's mine, in a way, even though it isn't.
a participantI haven't done anything with my hands in years. Just paid bills, walked, ate, slept. Today I made part of a city. That's a thing to say, isn't it. I made part of a city.
a participantThere's a bench outside the Phoenix where you can smell the food coming out the kitchen. I sit there sometimes when I can't go inside. They've never moved me on. That's a kindness, that.
a participantProcess photographs from across the four sessions.
The project began from a simple idea: that the people most often left out of a city's story are also the ones who know its corners best. The streets, the benches, the back routes, the places that mean something to someone but appear on no official map.
Our City, Our Stories set out to do three things. Put people experiencing homelessness in Leicester at the centre of a public commission rather than at the edge of one. Make something beautiful out of material the city had thrown away. And leave behind a piece of work that holds, inside it, the conversations of the people who made it.
The map hangs now in the Samworth Gallery at Leicester Cathedral. The pulp came from waste paper. The hands came from the city.
The Centre Project, Leicester
The Bridge, Leicester
Younus Mogul
Eliza O'Connor
Rebecca Simpson
Yasmin Conway
This project was made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, money raised through The National Lottery goes to support heritage across the UK.
With particular thanks to Francesca Pellegrino at Leicester Cathedral, Dannielle Williams at The Centre Project, Gemma at The Bridge, and every participant who sat at the table.
Peacock Lane, Leicester LE1 5PZ.
On display from 23 June to the end of September 2026.
Free entry during Cathedral opening hours.
Participatory artist based in Leicester. Works with reclaimed and recycled materials to build large-scale community pieces, public commissions, and durational projects.