Community Programme Exhibition: The Bird and the Rhino

The Bird and the Rhino is an exhibition that brings together and celebrates artworks from Harbour House’s community engagement programme; showcasing artworks made by community groups, alongside artworks by the artists who facilitate those projects.

The title of the exhibition is inspired by the mutually beneficial relationship between Oxpecker birds and rhinos. Oxpeckers' main source of food are insects and bugs, and are often seen sitting on rhinos’ backs, eating the insects that live on the rhino, helping them keep clean; the rhino offers a constant supply of food. As rhinos have bad eyesight, the birds also work to help protect them from predators like lions or hyenas. When the Oxpeckers see the predators they make lots of noise which alerts the rhinos to the danger.

This exhibition celebrates the symbiotic relationship between artists and community groups in socially-engaged projects programmed by Harbour House. These socially engaged projects are a collaborative way to make art, which involves community members taking part in activities and sharing their ideas and interests which then informs the next few sessions. There is a feedback loop of creativity and inspiration between artist-facilitators and artist-community members. Like the bird and the rhino, community art projects use collaboration for the benefit of everyone - a reciprocity of sharing new ideas, imagination, and togetherness with each other.