'Defiant' pansy trail marks hate crime spots in Bristol

Paul Harfleet has been planting and photographing the pansies for 16 years

A trail of pansies has been planted around Bristol in places where people have suffered homophobic and transphobic abuse.

Artist Paul Harfleet brought the idea to the city as a "defiant but gentle resistance to hate."

The flowers are designed to help those who have been abused by creating a positive image of where it happened.

Mr Harfleet has planted and photographed more than 300 pansies across the world.

Paul Harfleet once experienced three incidents of homophobic abuse in the same day

"It all started in 2005 when I experienced three separate incidences of homophobia in one day," he said.

"I began thinking about how those locations where I experienced the abuse had changed for me. I thought perhaps I could plant something there, and take a photograph.

"It was a strange, almost magical experience. When I would walk past I remembered that I planted a pansy there, I wouldn't necessarily think about the abuse."

309 pansies have been planted across the world, as part of the project

In 16 years the project has grown from Mr Harfleet marking his own experiences, to others contacting him to mark theirs.

"There was one in particular in the centre of Paris where a man and his boyfriend were really badly beaten up. They couldn't return to the location at first because it was too traumatic, but when they heard about The Pansy Project we went back together."

The artist feels that homophobic and transphobic abuse is still very common in the UK.

"It is a really complicated issue. Many people don't report it or go to the police.

"They may not tell anyone else about it, but I believe these micro-aggressions really chip away one's sense of self. They punctuate your life and sometimes you can get really depressed about the fear of experiencing these little attacks."

The first pansy was planted in Bristol on Friday 1 October. There were originally five in total across the city, but in general they don't last long.

Mr Harfleet wants to change places where hate crimes took place

"When I started the project in Manchester, occasionally I would go back and water the pansies, look after them and deadhead them. But sometimes people pick them because they look so unusual, and apparently pigeons eat them too!

"So the photographs are important. I want the pansies to dominate the image. I hope that in Bristol it will begin a conversation and perhaps I might return to plant more."

The Pansy Project is part of Vanguard x TOward 2030, What Are You Doing? It is an on-street project aligning art and artists with sustainable conversation throughout Bristol.

New pieces of art will be popping up across the city throughout October.