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Ruth Hennell

@therehn

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OU Student, curious learner, creator and activist. Don't care if sunsets and selfies are cliche! My games and wellbeing account: @being_gameful

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Some of you may remember me posting about my Convertible Housing Welcome Box project at @kwmcthefactory over the summer. It's been a bit waylaid by my bad hip (which unfortunately makes physical work too impractical atm), but I have been working on a one page website about it.

I want to include the influence of moving into and living in my emergency accommodation, as well as the construction and development of it and my various ideas for it going forward. But I'm finding it a bit tricky to explain it clearly and concisely!

So I am hoping for some thoughts, comments and questions to guide me a bit! What would you be interested to know?

Image 1: screenshot of draft webpage: Housing Welcome Box - A FutureMakers project from @TheRehn, created at KWMC The Factory for a We Can Make brief - graphic of 4 views - the hexagonal box & the sides being used as a laptop lap desk, free-standing shelves and sat on. Placeholder text, 4 links to content, photos as shelves and table

Image 2: Cropped paper brainstorm about Welcoming Home's and Connected Communities, which is where I started from ideas included: Homes are for people, not segregated, resisting commodification. 'Welcome' box - can be used as seating inside and outside drawing of a rectangular box. Could be hexagonal, comes apart for two small benches or tables? Shelves / planter info about the factory and suggestions on it? fabric strips, local makers, tea towel with map of area, hooks? Connecting people and nature

Image 3: diagram of dimensions 300mm on the side and 430mm along the top, drawings of the side and how it could fit or assemble.

Image 4: small wooden hexagon pieces connected to panels of corrugated card to prototype how the panels could fit together.

Image 5: me sat on the floor testing the dimensions of a cardboard prototype over my lap.

Image 6: me with a big grin and hand on my hip, by the box pieces I have assembled into the shelving configuration.

Image 7: Half assembled wooden, hexagonal tray top, with lip.

Image 8: sketch of surface design ideas like words and instructions.

Image 9: Wooden half hexagon side as a table, bee print and words taped on to show decoration possibilities. In post taken in Knowle, Bristol by @therehn

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4 years ago

Our museum will be open today from 10am-1pm.

Don’t forget that there are now only ✨ 5 ✨ more days to see ‘What brings me joy’ our beautifully uplifting exhibition, which closes on Weds 29th July.

No booking required. Pop in at your leisure 💚 taken in Glenside Hospital Museum by @therehn

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2 months ago

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3 months ago

What is it like to be trapped in your flat for months because of a broken lift?

This was the focus of @juanrie_photography 's exhibition, 'Out of Order', at the @johnhansardgallery in Southampton. It is close to home for me as my lift also regularly breaks down. I even had to temporarily move out of my home for nearly 2 months last autumn.

With some help from @keith_mcinnes76 I went to see the exhibition and had a long chat with Juanrie. Our experiences overlap, but are also different. I live in social housing, she lives in private rented accommodation, so we have different protections and rights (or lack thereof). We use different disability aids, but both of us have experienced housing insecurity due to the lack of accessible housing and can't 'just move'. We both made creative work during and about our experiences and both our birthdays were affected.

Talking about our lifts breaking was a bit emotional – it was great to chat with someone else that at least somewhat 'gets' the complicated relationship with our lifts, how it is a sociotechnical failure, the complexity of asking people for help, adjusting, complaining and advocating.

One of Juanrie's exhibition photos shows her frozen chips spilt all over the floor. These were her last chips in the bag and she remembers laughing at the absurdity of it – not being able to get out to buy more chips. I have definitely experienced similar – often it is less laughter and more tears.

After everything that happened with my lift (even being out of order again when I was trying to move home) I have been using lift selfies to try to reset our relationship. I don't want to feel anxious, stressed and awful every time I go out – a working lift should let me live!

So Juanrie and I got some lift selfies together in the gallery lift. On the lift doors behind us is a photo of her road, taken from her flat whilst she was stuck inside. An extra bit of the exhibition only for us lift users! And now I am pondering ideas for exhibitions inside lifts!

So if anyone wants to support further work, exhibitions or is also making work about lifts, please get in touch! Silly selfies of two white women in a lift, I am stood up waving my arm and holding my stick and Juanrie is sat in her wheelchair taking the selfie so her face is slightly coversd with the phone, there is a road photo on the doors behind us taken in John Hansard Gallery by @therehn

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6 months ago

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8 months ago

I don't have it in me to share a roundup of 2025, it's been a lot! But something I've really enjoyed this year is having my work in various exhibitions this year. It turns out to be a great way to have a presence and connect with people without having to be well enough to be able to be somewhere in person. So I thought I would share some photos from them as a highlight.

I’ve loved turning my current explorations of spirituality, Victorian history, nature and materials into these pieces:

1 & 2 'What Brings Me Joy' at @glenside_museum Hospital Museum, Fishponds, Bristol: Three church window inspired pieces, hung as a mobile, responding to the hospitals Victorian chapel imagery with my own anchors of nature, games and resting in the storm, inspired by John Piper’s windows in Coventry Cathedral and All Saints Bristol.

3 & 4 Uni of Exeter Art of Fiction Women's Work quilt by @ruth.broadway Make Southwest: A ribbony patch inspired by my freethinking writer, social reformer and artist Victorian ancestors, their connections to Coventry ribbon manufacturing and their friend the writer George Eliot.

5 Divinarts @letoilebristol on West street: A Kurdish Dreams painting, inspired by conversations with Tara Miran about the wise men being Kurdish. It features a big star and the word Dream in pink and purple clouds in both English and Kurdish Sorani, and a crown that also looks like a circle of people dreaming together, instead of authoritarian power.

6. The Garden Lab in @knowlewestmedia's Foundations for the Future Exhibition that has been running most of this year.

If you are in Bristol in 2026, the What Brings Me Joy exhibition Glenside Hospital Museum is running until April 2026, it is open Saturdays and Wednesday mornings. And who knows where else I might land up showing my creations in 2026!

#Artist #JohnPiper #Kurdish #TextileArt #SpiritualityInArt me a white woman grinning next to my three hanging and spinning church window inspired art pieces, in front of a sink and yellow and pink windowes and part of a gold dedication sign on the right. by @therehn

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9 months ago

🌟 Artist spotlight: @therehn 🌟

Ruth Hennell’s artwork comprises 3 separate pieces combined into one mobile, now beautifully hung in our stained glass panelled sink.

Ruth has drawn inspiration from various sources, including board games, experiences during her time spent as a teenage patient at Riverside (part of Blackberry Hill Hospital within the Glenside estate) and stained glass both in the chapel at Glenside Hospital Museum, and elsewhere.

Her work also explores parts of her journey of discovering joy in elements of nature, during a tough journey navigating various health challenges.

Check the slides where Ruth tells us more about her colourful and creative Rainbow Dice Suncatcher.

🖼️ Our exhibition opens to the public for the first time TODAY at 10am, and we can’t wait to welcome you 😍

It’s also a perfectly sunny day to follow our @bloombergconnects outdoor trail exploring Glenside’s historic grounds so come along, download the app, and make a day of it 🌳 taken in Glenside Hospital Museum by @therehn

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a year ago

Today is the last day of #CoProductionWeek - #CoProductionWeek2025

So I thought one small thing I could do to represent co-production better than many of the politicians in parliament on Tuesday (which upset me tbh) is to share some photos from a co-production group I am part of, from our meeting today.

We are co-producing research into supported homelessness pathways in Bristol. I am taking part in alongside others with lived experience of homelessness and Dave Ingerslev on secondment from St Mungo's. They are really a great group of people with lots of varied expertise.

We are analysing council data from 2009 until a few months ago and also planning, designing and running interviews collaboratively . It's really interesting and I am learning a lot about data analysis and research, but also about co-production.

Like a lot of co-production, the budget and some other constraints for the lead researcher were already set, which does impact the level to which power and work can be shared, but we decided together how to use the co-production budget.

It's brought me back to questions about the difference between co-creation, co-production, co-design and grassroutes arts and making, which have come up in @artshomelessint meetings. There is certainly something very power shifting in understanding and investigating systems that have had power over you.

I hope this gives a bit of insight into what co-production can look like in practice, what it is and what it isn't.

#CoProWeek #CoProWeek2025 Laptop with data, graph print outs, blue folder, 3 large blank wooder dice, crayons, pen and a webcam and microphone setup by @therehn

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a year ago

Today is #NationalComplimentDay (in the US, but all these days are invented anyways, so I don't see why it can't be International Compliment Day?!), so I thought today was the perfect day to share a few compliments with you all from the Knowle West Lights Lights Lights Shower of Compliments!

This Monday I was part of group testing out a fabulous Shower of Compliments, made by @ramonaevebigwood for @lightslightslightskw. The shower contains lots of felt hearts with recorded compliments inside, that many people have made over the past few months with Lights Lights Lights Super duo @clarkbagnall and @claudia_collins_artist.

They then went on to launch some complimentary billboards in Bedminster designed by the lovely @daisyhvnter and handed out compliments on sweets to passersby. I wasn't well enough for this bit, but check their pages for photos and BBC News and Radio reporting of the billboards.

If you like this post or comment, I'll give you a custom compliment for now renamed #InternationalComplimentDay 😃

VIDEO DESCRIPTIONS AND AUDIO
The four videos show my white hand pushing the pink sparkly sparkly heart in the centre of each dangling red felt heart to receive the compliments, with blue and clear shiny streamers and glittery water drops hanging around them.
Heart 1 says 'You are talented joyful and full of love'
Heart 2 says 'You are beautifully curious' (in my voice!)
Heart 3 says 'You always go above and beyond to help' (in Claudia's voice)
Heart 4 says 'Your hair looks pretty' (in a child's voice)

P.S it's actually Claudia Collins birthday today, so I think that means we all have to shower her with compliments?! taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @therehn

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2 years ago

Happy New Year Everyone! For Old Year's Night I decided to make piles representing different things I have made, explored and done this year. Well it got a bit out of hand and I now have piles all round my flat and far too much to say 🤣

1. The year started with exploring AI and Environmental Action with Friends of the Earth's Community Action Lab @friends_earth, where I was one of four participants. I was also studying my first OU level 3 module: IT systems planning for success. I loved learning about computer ethics and Enid Mumford who combined anthropology and information systems in the 1970s and 1980s in participatory and ethical ways, which is so relevant now. We also had some great discussions about AI and third section tech in #CharityHour on Twitter hour before it ended in February. I still miss the chats!

2. Systems, power and governance have emerged as themes, both in my OU studies and work. The charity I used to be a trustee for have changed their constitution and I made a visual diagram of the changes to help everyone get their heads around it. I learnt how to do system mapping through uni and fell in love with mermaid code, a diagramming language, to write diagrams in code! Inspired by being part of Housing Matters Lived Experience Advisory Board and @artshomelessint and wanting to explore lived experience of systems in a more creative way; I got some funding to prototype and explore a games to explore our experiences of misinformation and secrecy in housing systems. It was really fun and empowering.

3. This year I got to meet, learn from and collaborate with loads of creative disabled people, from @emmacgeen's forum theatre on bus accessibility, to working with Sarah Bell, @natnatnat6426 and @oliverwoodsart on Climate and Disability care mural on the side of Easton Community centre, Jesse's arts accessibility discussions at Spike Island. I also read disabled people's nature writing and met some fab disabled creatives in Coventry this summer, including Fran Town, who's quote is on the ribbon and @bengyspeer. Plus I saw some amazing disabled and non-disabled dancers in Streets of Cov.

4 onwards continued in the comments as run out of space! A journal article about Enid Mumford, some uni notes about ethics and technology, my Community AI and Environment action lab notebook, with stickers saying AI for CEO and AI? no thanks, balanced on top of a 1980s book The Creative Computer Machine Intelligence and Human Knowledge and a book on The Lives of Machines, The Industrial Imaginary in Victorian Literature and Culture, a storyboard zine about re-enchanting with nature through technology, a heart nature fire design cut from paper with the words Friends of the Earth AI Lab 2024 on the vibes and then our words Play, Convening, Community, YOLO, Spontaneity and connections, a paper plant sensory sprout prototype and a charity hour greeting card with a blue Twitter bird on it. by @therehn

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2 years ago

It's Kurdish Traditional Clothing day today, so here are some photos and memories in beautiful Kurdish outfits 😍

Kurdish Clothes Day is celebrated on March 10th by Kurds all over the world. It celebrates the traditional Kurdish outfits that have remained for centuries. Kurdish people don’t have their own nation state, and in some cases can't wear their traditional clothes, so the preservation of their traditions is especially important!

The traditional Kurdish women’s outfit consists of puffy pants, a long gown with long sleeves that can be tied together, along with a waistcoat or long-sleeved jacket, robe, or overcoat worn over the gown.

Kurdish men usually wear baggy trousers, a shirt and a sash that goes around the waist. The costume also includes a long wool overcoat, a vest, or an embroidered coat, depending on the occasion. Some men also wear a keffiyeh (kufiya), a traditional headdress fashioned from a square scarf.

#KurdishClothes #KurdishClothesDay #KurdishClothingDay #KurdishNationalClothing Collage showing me in a cream long Kurdish dress with gold and red embroidery and appliqué and a deep red long Kurdish dress with glitter robe. In some I am wearing a coin headdress, waistbelt or red mini waistcoat. In one I am led on my mat with a cushion. Other in Kurdish clothes are Bnar a Kurdish woman with long black hair in a lilac purple Kurdish dress with sparkly robe, Esam a Kurdish man in Khaki Kurdish wrap around top and wide fabric trousers with white shirt underneath and Tara a Kurdish lady with a teal hijab and black with colourful beaded embroidered dress. A few other friends and family feature in hoodies, sweaters and denim jacket by @therehn

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3 years ago

Clocks changing, darkness draws the night earlier — the end of the year feels like it is rushing ever closer, we tiredly try to catch up...

I stop to admire the leaves changing colour — even though it will make me late...Notice empty conker shells in the early evening darkness and look with my phone's torchlight for hidden habitats...

Nostalgia for autumn's gone by, and for past adventures — what does it mean to have beautiful leaves and then let them fall down? Beautiful and melancholy. Do we just dream of rest and energy? 9 tiled images showing a bed made from lollipop sticks, with a cardboard headboard saying rest and ivy draped across it, taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @therehn

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3 years ago