How can a multi-site gallery be developed within diverse communities and be impactful?
Web-page in support of an application by Kooj / Kuljit Chuhan – visual & digital artist; creative producer
PROJECT OVERVIEW:
An R&D project to explore firstly how artists can connect multiple local spaces to work together as a single multi-sited gallery, to host artists’ work involving local partners and communities. Secondly how would different notions of impact, whether for artistic development or social outcomes, drive the production and curation process. Thirdly I aim to produce a toolkit for how the resulting strategies could be implemented across Moss Side and Hulme areas of Manchester.
CONTENTS
- About the Consultants
- Powerhouse Portraits – the key reference project
- Potential venues across Moss Side
- Footprint Modulation
- Manchester Climate Justice Gallery
- Ghoorni – climate justice play
- Evaluation and Impact resources and methods
About the Consultants
In addition to the critical reflections contributed by professionals from the communities and organisations who I will be in dialogue with as a part of the research, there will be two paid consultants:
Jane Trowell – 30 years working for Platform (London) a widely respected organisation known for delivering arts for climate justice and active change, including co-curating the ground-breaking ‘C-Words’ exhibition at the Arnolfini in Bristol. She would be an excellent consultant for how wider impact might connect with both climate and racial justice themes. In particular she has now completed critically reflective PhD research into the formation and disruption of racism, coloniality and whiteness in ‘white’ art educators. Now works freelance as an arts educator, equity training facilitator, researcher, advisor to Healing Justice LDN, Associate with What if Experiment.
SuAndi OBE – arts practitioner born and raised in Manchester, who led the Black Arts Alliance for over 3 decades, and delivered Black History Month (Manchester) for many years. She has extensive experience of working with Black communities in Moss Side within a race politics framework and would be an excellent consultant for how a multi-site gallery system might connect with communities and be impactful. Her awards include the Windrush Inspirational Award, Hope & Inspiration Award for Work Supporting Black History Month and the MBMEN Lifetime Award. In 2023 SuAndi was the recipient, in her hometown, of the Manchester Culture Special Recognition Award.
Previous Projects
This R&D proposal builds on previous work by myself including in the following projects:
Powerhouse Portraits – the key reference project
The POWERHOUSE PORTRAITS project in 2023 transformed the Moss Side Powerhouse community centre into an art gallery, led and managed by just myself and one other artist. Previously bare walls which made the centre look very clinical and utilitarian were filled with imagery produced by 45 local people using 100 film cameras through 18 workshops. The diverse, intergenerational project created a vibrant photographic, creative writing and art exhibition involving people of ages from 8 to 87 years. The project strengthened diversity, connectivity, self-reflection, identity and gained 24,500 live exhibition visitors over 9 months. Powerhouse Portraits became a Spirit Of Manchester Award Winner and a Finalist in the Manchester Culture Awards.
above and below: Bare institutional corridors, communal spaces and landings become a gallery reflecting identities, histories, creativity and imagination, transforming the venue into a cultural experience enriching people’s daily lives
below: all areas of the centre were used to present creative community portraiture work – by, of and for the community and locality
- CAN THIS SUCCESSFUL CONCEPT BE SCALED UP TO INCLUDE OTHER COMMUNITY CENTRES IN THE LOCALITY, IN A COORDINATED WAY TO CREATE A MULTI-SITE CO-CURATED GALLERY SYSTEM ABLE TO HOST A ROLLING PROGRAMME OF TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS?
- HOW CAN A COMMUNITY GALLERY SYSTEM BE CONFIGURED TO BE OPTIMALLY IMPACTFUL FOR SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, EDUCATIVE AND ARTISTIC OUTCOMES IN A DIVERSE AND PLURALISTIC LOCALITY, PARTICULARLY AT THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN RACE AND CLIMATE?
- HOW WOULD SUCH A DECENTRALISED AND COLLECTIVE PROGRAMME SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF AND PARTICIPATE IN A WIDER MOVEMENT TOWARDS STRUCTURALLY DECOLONISING ART AND CULTURE, WITH THIS IMPACT ALSO BEING MEASURABLE?
Potential venues across Moss Side to involve in the research
I have worked around the Moss Side and nearby areas for over 40 years and have developed good networks and trust. The R&D project will engage the following centres in discussions about co-curating a multi-site exhibition programme and the need to weigh up the problems against the benefits for all interested to participate. A number of the following venues (marked with an asterix * ) have already hosted exhibitions usually in the form of enhanced displays with strong production values, so the concept of further exhibition work within a multi-site collective would be expected to be of potential interest:
- Powerhouse Community Centre*
- Kath Locke Centre*
- Ascension Church, Hulme*
- Hulme community garden centre*
- Z-arts, Hulme*
- Moss Side Park
- Chrysalis Family Centre
- Hideaway Youth Project
- Greenheys Adult Learning Centre
- Bembe Café in Alexandra Park*
- Kim’s Kitchen – independent cafe and bar in Hulme*
- Café Nubia – independent cafe in Moss Side
- Shop fronts along Princess Road and nearby localities
Footprint Modulation
An exhibition in Durham which I developed and curated across five venues, exploring Climate Migration which involved local, national and international artists. The venues were Durham Art Gallery, Oriental Museum, Durham University, Miners Hall and Empty Shop HQ. The Miners’ Hall is a community venue, and Empty Shop is an organisation which finds empty shops as informal spaces in which to put on art exhibitions. Art spread across multiple sites is not new, but here the combined resources of venues entirely for community activities with a social remit were being collectively coordinated as if a gallery.
above: ‘Resilience’ by local artists Apu Chowdhury and Murad Chowdhury created in collaboration with and alongside international artist Shahidul Alam’s photographic series ‘Climate Refugees’, presented at Durham’s Oriental Museum.
left: ‘African Fragments’ by local Zimbabwean artist Tracey Zengeni, consisting of painted animations on re-used scrap TV’s in a junk pile. Presented at and in collaboration with Durham Miner’s Hall, a community and union members’ centre.
Manchester Climate Justice Gallery
I was a member of a team which collectively curated an ongoing semi-permanent exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery exploring Climate Justice. Despite the gallery having robust methods of evaluation, this was focused on audiences as consumers of art and also on gallery sustainable practices rather than exploring ways of evaluating and developing strategies to optimise impact around the issues of Climate Justice.
There appear to be few models of impact producing in the visual arts except in relation to climate change (see list of Evaluation and Impact resources and methods below). The proposed R&D will develop a starting a toolkit applicable to wider issues especially race and migration which is of particular interest for communities in the Moss Side area.
Ghoorni – climate justice play by AYNA Theatre
I am currently working with AYNA Bangladeshi Theatre in Manchester to explore Impact Producing possibilities for a new tour of their play Ghoorni. This play tackles issues of both migration and climate change, following approaches that are more familiar to the theatre world in terms of a range of issue-based engagement with communities. Hopefully my learning from this process will help inform the R&D project which I am proposing here.
Evaluation and Impact resources and methods:
https://impactandinsight.co.uk
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/impact-and-insight-toolkit
https://artist-toolkit.galleryclimatecoalition.org
https://www.dacs.org.uk/news-events/the-importance-of-climate-action-in-the-visual-arts-sector
https://cultureactioneurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CVAN-Toolkit_03.pdf
https://theexhibitionsgroup.org.uk/resource/environmental-responsibility-resources-and-toolkits/