Butterfly House

The Butterfly House is here! It's been exciting coming and seeing it being constructed, and finding out more about the reasons behind its construction, and it's great to see it finished and ready for the public to interact with.

As well as the house, old local photographs lined the unit walls. Kelly left notebooks handy for visitors to jot down names and locations if they spotted any familiar places/faces on the photographs. I saw lots of the visitors to the space seeking out old friends and family members, and trying to identify classrooms and schools. There was a photo walk around the mill too, for people to capture modern images of the area.

 

Cath Ford ran a lantern making workshop in the space, and lots of houses and buildings of all shapes were created in the session. The finished ones were filled with battery operated tea light and fairy lights...and placed inside inside Butterfly House.

 

The space inside the Butterfly House acted as a mini cinema, with old film footage projecting onto the inner walls... and it looked really magical in there, especially once the lanterns had been added to the space. 

Kelly held a variety of events over the course of the week which included singing, decorating the house with images, storytelling, performances and even clog dancing! A choir came from the Calico Group to sing in the space, and it was their very first public performance! They sounded fantastic, and received a good welcome from the crowd of residents and mill users. 

Ex Emmerdale actress Ursula Holden-Gill  entertained the crowd with her brilliant storytelling, clog dancing and singing... with funny and engaging local tales.

The space and events were all really enjoyable, and really varied. Kelly did a brilliant job and the audience all seemed to really enjoy themselves too. The house and space feels part of the community, a bringing together of old and new.

Location, Location, Location

I've just spent a very pleasant hour driving around SW Burnley with Caroline Wright seeking exhibition locations for the final art work from her residency. Much of the route we took was similar to the walking route from our first photo walk and it was fascinating to be observing familiar areas but from a different perspective. On our photo walk I was seeking out and capturing detail, colour and texture, this time we were looking for public spaces suitable for large portraits of local people to be exhibited.
The conversation and thinking was very different this time as we imagined the photos placed in the environment and considered not just the visual impact of the work, but the emotional impact for the people in the photos and those viewing them (as well as the practicalities of installing them).
Both Caroline and Kelly have approached their residencies with real care and consideration for the people they have worked with, just as we hoped. The relationships they have built, the trust which has enabled people to open up and share their lives, stories and communities is evident in every stage off their thinking and their work.
We did a couple of circuits of the area, each time adding to my own social and emotional map of the area, and ended up deciding on a building that we had driven past, acknowledged but not considered as viable on the first circuit. As the journey progressed it became clear that this building was the best option. It's a building that is well known to everyone in the area which might well explain why we overlooked it in the first place - it was just too obvious. I think we had to do the journey together to help develop ideas and reject some possibilities before the obvious became visible and I really appreciated being asked to accompany Caroline on her scouting mission.
I'll not tell you any more as I'm sure Caroline will. It was also great to hear about the studio portrait day they held yesterday which went on until late in the evening. I'm really looking forward to seeing the resulting portraits.
Cath

Photo Walk

Pushing the boundaries of SW Burnley

Dave and I both went on the photo walk last week, and really enjoyed meeting John, Pat and Simon. It was great to be able to come on the walk and just meet people and talk/listen to them - as we'd decided to just come and take part, rather than documenting it through film. 

I wonder if Jodie was ever found?

We planned initially to go to Scott park, but after we set off we all started discussing the boundaries of SW Burnley, with John asking if we could 'push the boundaries of the triangle' and suggesting we go and explore the industrial areas on the other side of Rossendale Rd.

It was interesting to see the busy area and walk through the buildings, butty vans and people having lunch... being part of the temporary community that lived there during the daytime. There were lots of cars in the parking areas, suggesting that a lot of the staff come from outside the area. I wonder how many SW Burnley residents work there? 

The group was keen to walk around the cemetery after this, and the nature of our location led naturally to talk about loss and death, and discussion of this being 'secret Burnley, the bit no-one really wants to talk about, but where everyone ends up'.

After exploring, the rain started... so we began to make our way back to the Fold. We had lunch in a cafe on the way, and reviewed our photos together. 

Caroline - Huckleberry Films