Home-Maker

Home-Maker, the interactive documentary project has been touring UK venues for the last 2 years. At the final venue, Hatton Gallery, a team from Heaton Used furniture came in and turned off the computers, packed up the dolls, furniture and ornaments and dismantled the set as they would whenever they perform a House Clearance. Now the only place to view Home-Maker is online.
In an online flash environment built by Gareth Howell you can visit Florrie, Roy, Lilian, Betty, Aiko-san, Emi-san and Monji-san in their new online home and hear the stories linked to the belongings in their Derbyshire and Tokyo living rooms in over an hour of streaming mini documentaries.

“This largely unprecedented, highly novel approach to portraiture brings up all kinds of touching details of life as it is lived between four walls, amid the dreadfully small collections of significant belongings, haunted by the enduring presence of lost loved ones….” (Mick Martin, The Guardian)

Home-Maker is the result of two residencies which took place in the living rooms of seven housebound, older people in South Derbyshire, England, and Tokyo, Japan. Jeanie Finlay spent time with each of the seven people, getting to know their histories, preoccupations and passions, creating video and panoramic portraits of each of them in their homes.

A Ruby project made with Peoplexpress and Muse Company. In association with On the Edge Research. Supported by Arts Council of England , EM Media, UK Film Council, YOTA and Esm»e Fairbairn Charitable Trust. Design by Ruby. Flash online exhibition by Gareth Howell. Winner of a Canon International Digital Creators Web Award.

Home-Maker by Jeanie Finlay
What makes a house a home, how does this change if you can’t leave?
http://www.home-maker.org.uk
http://www.ruby-online.co.uk