Touchstone 2025
"Touchstone invites people to remember someone they have lost through a shared creative process, opening a space for grief, remembrance and connection"
Developed and delivered by artist Gillian Allard, this community arts project explored a new way of approaching feelings of grief. The pilot was trialled in Suffolk for the Platforma Festival 2025, produced by Counterpoints Arts. Touchstone was funded by Arts Council England & Suffolk County Council and supported by St Elizabeth Hospice and Suffolk Community Libraries.
After an outreach campaign by St Elizabeth Hospice, Suffolk Libraries and by word of mouth, thirty-one participants took part in the project. Some people had lived in Suffolk all their lives while others were from refugee and migrant backgrounds.
"Touchstones was an exceptional project: ambitious, original and far-reaching. It was clear from the outset that Gillian Allard had planned the project with great depth, working with partners to ensure that she had sufficient support as well as to deliver the project workshops and exhibition"
- Tom Green - Senior Producer - Counterpoints Arts
Film by : Hossam Fazulla
Reveal Workshop
Prior to the session each person emailed a photograph of someone close to them that had passed. Gillian edited then bonded each image to three stones per person; one completed large photo stone was specially boxed and coved in a soft blanket, then a smaller partially made beach pebble and finally a tiny completed beach stone as a keepsake. During carefully designed small group workshops the session opened with each participant being given the larger stone of their loved one to unveil, this allowed some time to share thoughts or just quietly take in the image, shape and feel of the stone. Later, each person revealed their beach pebble using water, to uncover the face of their loved one. A poem was added to the reverse requesting their subsequent return to the sea if found. Then writer Roua Horanieh worked with the participants to help them express their feelings and loss in words. This enabled each person to later hand-write a tribute onto their larger pebble.
Release Workshops
The groups met the following week at a coastal location in Suffolk and spent time on the beach discussing their loss, writing their tributes on their large stones and preparing to release their beach memory stone to the sea with support of grief counsellors from St Elizabeth Hospice bereavement service Living Grief. Participants reported that it was an emotional yet uplifting experience.
The Exhibition
A private view celebration and public exhibition was held from 31st October - 10th November 2025 at The Old Custom House, Ipswich.
We exhibited the large stones alongside each participants words and played the films. We had lovely homemade food made by one of our participants from Afghanistan.
“We were all together at the exhibition to show that we share the same pain, which helps us understand each other regardless of community”.
- Rona - participant and Leader of ALMAS, Ipswich
In Their Own Words
The comments are each person's reflection on their experience of the project. The photos are a combination of participant phone photos and stills taken by the team.
