Rediscover Barrow’s most treasured photography archive in a fusion of sculpture, projection, photography and sound.
Barrow-based charity Signal Film and Media brings an exciting free programme of arts and heritage events and activities to the community this August, thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
As part of Signal Film and Media’s Sankey: Lives Through the Lens Project, a specially commissioned Sankey-inspired exhibition by artist Niki Colclough and local young participants will launch on Thursday, August 8 at 6pm.
The exhibition, Field Notes, will run until Saturday August 31, alongside a series of free Sankey talks and free creative workshops.
Signal Film and Media launched the full digitised collection, The Sankey Photography Archive, online for the first time in September.
Sankey: Lives Through the Lens began earlier this year with workshops and masterclasses engaging participants from Furness Refugee Support, Furness Multicultural Forum and Mind with the Sankey Photography Archive.
Working with the archive and a group of local youth participants, Manchester-based artist Niki will exhibit a series of new Sankey-inspired works in the exhibition.
Using a combination of analogue and digital methods, traditional and non-traditional artforms, and inspired by Barrow’s past and present, the work reimagines the leading lights of Walney Channel photographed by Sankey in 1912.
The exhibition has taken root in this photograph, selected out of the archive of over 10,000 photographs, to take visitors on a journey of the senses and an exploration of nature and industry working alongside each other in a unique installation.
Viewers will experience sculpture, sound, projection and collage. There will also be a selection of Sankey Photographs on display and work from adult participants created earlier this year.
Throughout the summer, Niki has been exploring Barrow’s post industrial sites and spaces of special ecological interest from the Sankey Photographic Archive.
Rampside, Sandscale Haws, Birkrigg Stone Circle and Bigger Bank are some of the places that Niki and the young participants have connected with through a series of creative workshops exploring filmmaking, photography, 3D scanning and sonic arts.
Signal Film and Media’s project producer, Jo Day, said, “It’s been an inspiring experience working with young people who are so inclusive of each other, seeing them come together to support and accept each other through the creation of the artwork has been very touching.”
Throughout the duration of the exhibition, Signal Film and Media will also be offering a free programme of talks, workshops and family-friendly activities at Cooke’s Studios. More information and details are available at https://signalfilmandmedia.com/sankey-lives-through-the-lens/
