I’ve come across the Quiet Capsule Design Project – CSM when I was pregnant, back in 2019. My days while working in the Learning Zone were long and sometimes would finish late. At that time, the Learning Zone didn’t have an office and once, I used the Quiet Capsule Design Project to rest.

Having been a founder member of the Studio and Project Space Maxilla in West London, a space for artists and the community around, my main thinking was to create a space with a sense of belonging and community based. I am aware that working within buildings that have a certain history can trigger reactions and exclusion. Often the universities spaces and the rooms are linked with questions of power and hierarchies and my first steps to reduce those reactions is to consider the environment for my sessions with my students; I arrange the space where everyone is at the same level and I sit side by side with my students.

Lorrice Douglas, a senior lecturer and my colleague on the fine art course wrote “The fundamental nature of alienation is feeling somehow different and unsure of where to turn to for connection and understanding from others. In terms of the arts education environment it can mean avoiding situations that may be (anticipated as) further damaging or disparaging, for example shared studio spaces, workshops or showing up for crits. It can mean seeing or even knowing one’s commonalities with others and at times enjoying these, but also experiencing them as all too fleeting. It is feeling unsure of acceptance. If one is experiencing alienation, the risk of taking part in activities with people one feels one shares little ‘common ground’ with can feel like a gamble. What as arts educators can we do to lessen this?” (Douglas, 2018).

In our next resource, Religion in Britain, the Multiculturalism section reflects on an up to date concept of equality, that is based on the respect for difference and accommodation of the difference in the public space. Here, it highlights that “Instead of creating a sharp distinction between the public sphere of rights and civic relations and a private sphere (of male–female relations, sexual orientations or religious beliefs), we acknowledge that the public sphere reflects various norms and interests of, for example, masculinity, heterosexuality, Anglophones, Christians, and that equality therefore requires the abandonment of the pretence of ‘difference-blindness’ and allowing others, the marginalised minorities, to also be visible and explicitly accommodated in the public sphere”.

In the public sphere section, mentions a growing presence of non-Christian religions or Christian churches as a result of immigration. Further on, it says that “Higher education institutions will need to ensure that members of minority faiths are treated with appropriate respect and accommodation by other students and staff”. However, there is little understanding on religion now days in higher education and a new concept emerged because of that – “religious literacy”. As stated in here, “Many decision-makers in Britain today are ‘illiterate’ when it comes to people of faith and their motivations and symbolic worlds.”. As a way forward ‘religious literacy’ must not be understood in a narrowly religious way but in a context of wider social divisions and group power relations, especially racism, ethno-religious exclusions and inclusions, and the struggle for multicultural equality.

In the Religion and dissent in universities section it was interesting to read and to reflect on how it an be liberating for some students the discussion of different ‘non-binary’ sexual and gender identities but it can also be unsettling for others. How can we foster a spirit of discussion while making everyone feel welcome and included? “Gender and sexuality are challenging issues for universities that struggle to combine respect for religion with clarity that a lack of respect or denigration based on gender or sexuality cannot be countenanced.” It was interesting, further one, to read that many students are supportive and welcoming of sexual minorities and “are active in efforts to secure harmony among different religious groups…”. After reading this, I feel that more of this dialogue should happen in the classroom too, as a way of promoting sharing and give origin to new knowledge.

Reflecting on how can I accommodate this in my practice, I would like to share the following: as a teacher I keep detailed records of my students progress and needs and what they are researching and interests. These records include daily interests they share with me, ideas around their research and body of practice but they also include aspects of their lives like whether they have a part time job and their religion. Recently this was important as a student of mine; assessed by another tutor, was on the evidence given not achieving as well as I would have expected; but I also knew that she had been fasting as part of her faith, and she had started a part time job and this had had an impact on her studies. This knowledge also informs my aims to be as inclusive as possible.

For next year, i will mention that the students can tell me, if the want, if they have a festival or a religious celebration, during the academic year. I will also print a multi faith calendar, as suggested on SoN, around Faith.

I will have soon the Unit 4 presentations, groups of 4 or 5 students and I was very inspired by the article “How Do I Create Safe Spaces for My Students in Class”in the The Little Book of Big Case Studies . Based on option 2: set rules at induction, I will create a set of rules adapted to their Uni4 presentations and I will email my students in advance.

The Little Book of Big Case Studies around Faith was created in 2017, making also reference to the times lived around that time. I was living in the Lake District in 2016 doing an art residency, when the Brexit vote happened, and I remember seeing around propaganda against emigration. Being an emigrant myself, I am aware of stereotypes and feelings of exclusion of not fitting within a certain kind of environment, or how certain questions make one feel uncomfortable.

Every time I say my name, people always say I am Spanish, for example. I understand it does not come from a bad place.

The terms of reference from Shades of Noir around Faith resonates with me immediately, when in the Note from Jeannine Hill Fletcher she describes what religion can be.

At home, back in Portugal we talked a lot about religion. I was raised catholic, baptised, attended Sunday School, first communion and confirmation. Mum is a women of faith. She deeply believes in God and she practices her faith. She also attends the church and has a praying group. The way mum describes her praying and her practice of faith, others would call it meditation. And I believe religion, like Jeannine Hill Fletcher says, provides mum deep wisdoms and has allowed her to discover herself in a deeper way.

Dad is an atheist. Or, he become one. He attended boarding school in Portugal (grandma wanted him to become a priest), and he was obligated to go to the church. He is not as happy as mum is, though.

I don’t have faith in God. But I believe there is something spiritual that can be nurtured and cultivated. Often I say to mum that she is blessed by God and maybe one day I will be too.

I respect all other religions, perhaps because at home we are very open to discuss these issues and mum and dad always discussed these issues. I am very conscious of my positionality and I really don’t want to put off any students of being open to talk about their faith by my position.

My approach to talk about this issue is gentle and non judgmental. If, at the moment, I don’t have faith, I am also the first to say that maybe one day that will change.

Nonetheless, it can also emphasises stereotypes. Looking at the drawings of Paula Rego, who died recently and whose life will be deeply missed

This leads me to my last resource goes to the lecture by the philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah Reith lecture on Creed, who says that when considering religion we overestimate the importance of scripture and underestimate the importance of practice. He breaks down religion in three ways: what you do, who you do it with, and finally, belief.

Again, this made me think again about mum and how her energy is so bright and enthusiastic when she comes back from her community and practice praying group.

One of the most interesting parts is when the audience starts to ask questions and Kwame Anthony Appiah Reith argues that texts are often contradictory and have been interpreted in different ways at different times and talks about fundamentalism as a modern phenomena.

I would like to finalise this last post remembering Paula Rego, who will be deeply missed, and her series of ten pastels inspired by a political event in Portugal, that nevertheless, it is linked with religion.

The abortion series were made as a direct response to her anger following the “No” vote for the legalisation of abortion in Portugal in 1998. In 1940, Portugal signed a Concordat with the Vatican under which ´women were instructed to emulate the Virgin Mary, both culturally and maternally. These attributes of femininity were laid down in governmental statutes essentially insisting upon women’s submission to a domestic, obedient and chaste life. The Language of the Vatican Concordat with Portugal is instructive

Women’s work outside the family sphere disintegrates home life, separates its different members and makes them strangers to each other… Life in common disappears; the work of educating the children suffers and families become smaller… We consider that it is the man who should labour (sic) and maintain the family and we say that the work of the married women outside her home, and similarly that of the spinster who is member of the family, should not be encouraged.”`. (Waugh, 2013)

Joining the European Union, in 1986, has meant that more information about contraception is available, however, the values of the Catholic Church have still an enormous an influence.

These works by Paula Rego deal with the fact of women not being allowed to make decisions regarding their own existence.

While, I do agree that religion has strong benefits for the community, there is still so much to do for women’s rights.