The Shape of Acceptance

The Shape of Acceptance was a youth-led immersive installation co-created by students of the Generation Hull Arts Council at Malet Lambert Secondary School in collaboration with local artist Lauren Saunders. 

Through sculpture, storytelling and world-building, the group has created a mythology of their own making shaped by their ideas and hopes around acceptance, identity and connection.

THE GATHERING:

In another realm of mountains, forests, lakes and strange magic, stands a tree so enormous it can be seen from every corner of the land… which the Beings call the Heart Tree. Its roots stretch beneath their entire world, and somehow, impossibly, beneath ours too. Through this vast mycelial network, the Tree feels everything.

For centuries, the connection between worlds remained steady. But slowly the signals coming from humanity began to change. The roots carried fear. Division. Loneliness. Violence. Forest fires. Flooding. Hatred growing louder than compassion.

And so, for the first time in centuries, the Heart Tree burst into bloom - thousands of glowing pink blossoms opening across its branches in response. Across the land, the Beings saw the signal and understood immediately: The call for a Gathering had been made.

Strange wandering creatures shaped from moss, flame, antlers, feathers, stone, seafoam and spirit came from the forests, caves, rivers, mountains and coastlines. Each echoes the spirit of someone from our world… carrying traces of their identity, emotions, fears, resilience and hope.

Together they gathered beneath the Heart Tree in silence. Then their mysterious ritual began.

Some sang. Some danced. Some pressed offerings into the roots. As they harnessed their intention together, the mycelial network beneath them started to glow, sending something back through the connection between worlds; Kindness. Care. Acceptance. And compassionate love for people and planet alike.

The Beings understand something humans sometimes forget… that love and acceptance already live within us. They run deeply through every person, steady and familiar, even when other voices try to push them down. They may be buried beneath fear and division, but they are never lost - only waiting to be returned to.

And somewhere beneath our feet, the roots are still listening, learning what we do next…