Find out about love in all forms from film and discussion
The stories of love in all forms by all people will be showcased by a film screen and discussion as part of the online Wolverhampton Literature Festival.
'We found love in the 80s' is the creation of award-winning artist Dawinder Bansal and musician and founder of the Human League and Heaven 17, Martyn Ware.
They will be screening the film and holding a panel discussion as part of their event on Saturday, February 13.
The pair launched the project in the summer of 2020 and interview a range of people across the country, with the film representing the diversity of love and relationships in the 1980s.
They interviewed people in a traditional arranged marriage, a mixed heritage/faith, inter-caste relationships and gay/queer couples as part of the film, with many of the taboos and unspoken areas of relationships in that time recorded.
Dawinder, who was born and bred in Wolverhampton, first met Martyn when they were commissioned artists at the National Festival of Making in 2018 and said they had been keen to work together for a while.
Martyn said: "I'm quite a big fan of Dawinder's work as it fits into the sort of stuff I do with soundscapes really well, as well as my interest in oral histories.
"We became friends and were determined to work together on whatever project we could, with this coming about at the right time."
Dawinder said: "I've been doing a lot of work about the 1980s, such as my recreation of a 1980s living room, and I have had some very interesting conversations about how they lived through the decade.
Background
"I started to hear a lot of stories about different relationships which I didn't know really existed because of my traditional Indian background, so it gave me an opportunity to really explore these stories."
The film will feature the stories of those people interviewed alongside soundscapes created by Martyn Ware to produce a piece that aims to encourage debate and stir the emotions.
Martyn said he had been around the London scene in the 1980s as part of his time in Heaven 17 and had seen a lot of the experimentation and changes in attitudes at the time.
He said: "I always thought that being sexually ambivalent or coming out as gay at that time was actually a sales point in the music world.
"I'm proud to count amongst my friends Andy Bell from Erasure, who was openly gay and openly HIV positive and made no bones about it, saying this is me, take it or leave it."
He also said that he had fond memories of Wolverhampton, having performed there with his band, as well as trips to Molineux as a Sheffield Wednesday fan in the 1970s, and said he was looking forward to being part of the festival, despite the online setting.
He said: "It's difficult because I miss the body language and interaction and laughter and applause of a live event, but we will make it work and enjoy talking to those in attendance."
Dawinder, who will be busy during the festival with two events, including a conversation with actress Shobna Gulati, said she still wanted to hear from people who wanted to tell their unique stories.
She said: "This started out as a physical exhibition and soundscape and has become a film and podcast and we are still looking for people's stories as we want to celebrate different types of love.
"It's a slice of history and it's about those people who have navigated their relationships through something that was external and that was happening."
"We found love in the 80s" takes place on Saturday, February 13 at 1pm online and costs £10 plus booking fee.
To book a ticket and for more information, go to wolvesliteraturefestival.co.uk/
