William to view art exhibition offering fresh perspective on homelessness

The Prince of Wales will tour a ground-breaking homelessness exhibition featuring some art created by former rough sleepers.

William’s Homewards project, which aims to develop a blueprint for eradicating homelessness in all its forms, is the driving force behind the art attraction which opened at the Saatchi Gallery in London in August.

Called Homelessness: Reframed, the exhibition features sculptures, photographs and everyday objects given a new life by artists, who may have experienced homelessness, in a bid to tell personal stories and give a fresh perspective on the issue.

The prince is said to be looking forward to touring the exhibition, which runs until September 20 and showcases established creatives such as photographer Rankin and emerging artists.

Mick Clarke, chief executive of homelessness charity, The Passage, said Mr Tovey had used the charity’s services and now hosted art classes at one of its residential projects.

He added: “What I love about the Reframed exhibition is this gives an opportunity again to put a spotlight on how we’ve got to get homelessness away from something society thinks is inevitable and something that we manage, to something that can be prevented from happening.”

The attraction has three parts: a collection of mainly hand-drawn signs sometimes seen next to a person sleeping rough, artwork commissions, and doors turned into art by young people, from the six areas where Homewards is working, during workshops led by local artists who have been homeless.

During his visit William will meet some of the artist who have contributed to the exhibition, including Rankin, and chat to some of the young people who helped create the artwork from doors.