Laundry

An association of artists

Arts work at Oak House

Artists Hipkiss & Graney have been undertaking a short residency at the Oak House West Bromwich. Inspired both by images from the Jubilee Arts Archive and by the local environment,  they have been creating a sculpture. This will be paraded around Oak Houses gardens Sunday 4th June between 11am and 2pm (opening hours) as a celebration of its meadowland and cultural significance in the area.

 

For Jubilee Arts, the Oak House was a key venue for arts activity with the community for throughout the 1980s.

Podcast time

Miaaw.net is a fortnightly podcast featuring interviews, conversations and opinion an all things community, participatory and applied arts with four years of back episodes available to view.

 

 

A recent episode on September 23rd featured Beverley Harvey & Brendan Jackson, co-founders of the Jubilee Archive project, in conversation with Owen Kelly about the archive.

Find it here: https://miaaw.net/599/the-archives-at-jubilee/

Made In Oldbury

Building on community connections we have developed through work with the Jubilee Arts archive over the past 18 months, we are undertaking a new project to look at the industrial legacy of the heart of the Black Country. With support from the Arts Council, artists Brendan Jackson, Jain Mckay, Alicja Rogalska,and bursary artist Joshua Whitehouse are collaborating with web designer Paul Lacey, using writing, visual art, photography and digital art. Alongside this, we are working with Oldbury and Langley Local History groups, youth groups and library groups to create a series of events and exhibitions supported by Heritage Lottery Fund and Local Area Budget.

Contact Kate Jackson for further details: kate (AT) katejacksphoto.co.uk

As the project develops, we will investigate archive materials from the post-war period relating to Accles & Pollock and Albright & Wilson, core industries that shaped both local infrastructure and the economy of the country, as well as the lives of generations in the region. These industries also supported a large number of smaller firms, of which there is still little known and of particular interest to the local history groups. Through a series of workshops and bespoke activities, archive materials will be curated, presented and exhibited at a series of performative events and finally via a web site. Independent photographic curator, Pete James, will be advising on the content.

Together we will explore folk memory, oral histories and common tales, many layered fabrications of myths and personal testimonies which relate to local landmarks and industrial archaeology – all of which shape the culture and identity of a place. By combining our cross-disciplinary skills with new digital content, the web site will offer a digital journey through the area.

Made in Oldbury was the title of an large industrial exhibition held at Langley Baths in 1949, profiling the products from the area. The website in progress is www.madeinoldbury.co.uk

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Jubilee Arts Archive 1974-1994

“This archive shares what was going on in society, what was going on in the world and what was going on in a place like Sandwell, where industrialisation was being wiped out and we were moving into a new territory. Going into that territory then we said, we’re not going to do the art for you, we’re going to co- produce with you we know how to make things and make things look good and tell stories, but we’ll work with you because these are your stories. This isn’t art that only artists make, this is art that artists and communities and young people make together, and this had an enormous impact and resonated with what was going on in society. That’s what makes it so exciting, it’s not just a document and an archive about an arts process or practice, it’s about the way people lived together and worked together, and what they could achieve together. n the 1970s times were tough, rather like today. I hope the Jubilee archive will be a revelation to today’s young people, showing just how creative and community-spirited their parents and grandparents were when they were young. Forty years on, that same community spirit is needed more than ever.”

– Steve Trow, one of the founder members of Jubilee Arts

Our intention and approach to the project was to work with materials from the Jubilee Arts Archive 1974-94 and engage with local communities in Sandwell to create a bespoke web site and a series of local exhibitions.

The project:
– engaged with a wide range of individuals and groups in diverse settings

– created bespoke events and workshops in response to the interest shown by local groups

– created unique content that enabled us to design a substantial website to share the Jubilee Arts Archive

– exceeded our personal targets in terms of participants and in terms of audiences

– gained substantial publicity for the archive project, with regular features in local newspapers and news media

– inspired and motivated local groups to work with professionals and develop their own project proposals through practical planning sessions and by introducing them to potential supporters and funding streams as the project progressed.

The web site www.jubileeartsarchive.com features over 2500 images, along with 24 case studies of projects from the period 1974. The case studies provides an account of project aims and objectives from oral history interviews. In addition to the photographic material, we found original moving image that was recorded on 8m film as well as VHS material. Substantial amounts of this footage have been digitised and used throughout the project to share the archive.

The project was supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Community Development Foundation, Sandwell M.B.C.

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