This British Cathedral Wants To Get People Of Different Faiths Talking

Birmingham Cathedral at nightCofE

Feeling miserable post-Brexit?

Fed up post-Trump?

Scared that Honey G is going to win the X Factor?

Or maybe all these things make you feel ecstatically happy.

We all know feelings aren't facts, but sometimes they can almost be preferable to reality.

Now a UK cathedral is offering Christians and people of other faiths the chance to turn their emotions into something creative in a referendum-style art project based on votes about – feelings.

People of all faiths and none in Birmingham across the West Midlands are to be invited to answer a different question each day for five days about "how they are feeling" at this point in the year.

They will be able to post their answers in small electronic voting boxes placed across the city in hairdressers, grocers, community centres and libraries.

Their answers will then be fused into a work of art, emblazoned in a display around the cathedral, to celebrate common values and create "moments of reflection and wonder".

The project, following on from Birmingham Cathedral's 300th anniversary in 2015, will be used in new research into how technology can enhance community engagement.

The Something Good project will culminate in Birmingham's Cathedral Square.

The answers to the question of how people are feeling will be used to create new works of art that that will light up, first, their own community and then, Cathedral Square.

Questions will include: "Have you laughed today?" and "Are you looking forward to next year?"

The answers will be displayed as eight foot tall interactive boards, designed by Redhawk Logistica and inspired by cricket scoreboards.

Something Good artistic rirector, Orit Azaz, said: "Measures of Us is a new collaboration between artists, technologists, faith groups and the public.

"It is a pilot, an experiment to explore potential for a city wide creative conversation using light based artworks in surprising ways. It is a way of bringing people from different areas and backgrounds together and creating a sense of connection across different parts of the city.

"People will have a chance to express how they feel, and then see how others in their own neighbourhood, and others areas feel too. We hope they will also suggest new questions that they would like to ask their neighbours and people who live in other parts of Birmingham."

Dean of Birmingham Catherine Ogle said: "The Cathedral is so pleased to be enabling a city wide and imaginative conversation celebrating common values.

"We believe that the diverse communities of Birmingham, of all faiths and none, can enjoy sharing in common humanity."