The Attic at Heritage Courtyard Gallery & Studios, Wells
Following its debut at Heart of The Tribe Gallery, Giving Sanctuary returns.
In this latest iteration by interdisciplinary artist Melanie Thompson, visitors are invited to step inside a quiet canvas tent, a kind of modern-day confessional, and reflect on their relationship with safety, shelter, and responsibility.
This version deepens the invitation, asking us to consider what sanctuary means today. Images of war-torn streets, destroyed homes, and fractured lives scroll past us daily. As fear creeps closer to home, even those who once felt secure are beginning to understand what it means to have that safety shaken.
Giving Sanctuary invites visitors to reflect not only on their own sense of safety, but on what sanctuary truly demands—who it serves, what it costs, and the emotional and practical responsibilities it asks of us all.
The experience is both introspective and interactive.
Visitors are encouraged to engage directly through writing, drawing, message-leaving, or silent presence. Participants become part of the work.
A discreetly placed Ring video camera captures these moments, not as surveillance, but as connection. When it feels right, a quiet dialogue may emerge between visitor and artist, bridging the physical distance through honest exchange. The camera becomes a tool for intimacy, not intrusion; the tent, a container, holding space for vulnerability and truth.
Visitors are welcome to offer something of their own: a thought, a feeling, a quiet truth. These unfiltered responses will form a growing collection of written and video reflections, shared with consent via the installation’s Instagram account, @giving_sanctuary, as the work continues to travel and evolve.
In a world where sanctuary is no longer a given, Giving Sanctuary creates a space for reflection, reckoning, and the quiet hope that empathy might still connect us—across borders, both visible and unseen.
Join us for the pre-launch event on Friday 19th September for the launch of Giving Sanctuary. More details coming soon.
The installation runs from 20–28 September 2025 at The Attic at Heritage Courtyard Gallery & Studios, Wells to coincide with Somerset Art Weeks.