BLACKBURN WITH DARWEN ACTIVITY
The LET project in Blackburn with Darwen will run from June 2010 for about a year, using empty shops and town centre events to raise the profile of local creative industries, demonstrating the role they have to play in economic development and regeneration.
LET Shop 1 / 65 King William Street
Based in a town centre location, this shop's activity will include workshops, talks, debates, events and performances. At the same time these events will help artists to develop their business and artistic practice.
All events are open to the general public. The curent programme of activity is as follows:
The New Curiosity Shop - Action Factory Community Arts
24 Feb - 12 March
The newest occupants to Blackburn LET project at 65, King William Street, are Action Factory Community Arts. The three week residency entitled ‘The New Curiosity Shop’ runs from Thursday 24th February until Saturday 12th March and will involve the company in workshops with local people to create objects, recordings and film work for a final exhibition and performance evening on Saturday 12th March. All activities are free and take place on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 2.00pm-5.00pm. For further information contact Action Factory on 01254 679335.
For full details see news section.
Previous residents in the LET shop have been:
Doorstep Collective
15 Sept - 10 Oct
.JPG)
This project turned the shop into a creative family learning hub: a drop-in multi-sensory environment with innovative menus of fresh family fun. Families found fruitful learning boxes and tempting workshops to take part in.
Julia Swarbrick
11 Oct - 10 Nov
.png)
Julia will develop a series of works that respond directly to the town centre and the surrounding area of Blackburn with Darwen. Each week there will be workshops covering topics such as Abstract Painting, Portraiture and Printmaking.
Collective Encounters
13-18 December
This Theatre for Social Change from Liverpool will stage three performances of their 20 minute opera on homelessness, ‘Songs for Silenced Voices’, supplemented by discussions and workshops aimed at a variety of groups. See news story on this.
View video clip on this below:
LET 'Songs for Silenced Voices' clip from Creativity Works on Vimeo.
Collective Encounters present their 20 minute tragic opera 'Songs for Silenced Voices' about homeless people. The venue is an empty shop in Blackburn and is part of Blackburn's LET programme. For more details see www.collective-encounters.org.uk
Festive Arts Fayre By The Art of Distraction
27/28 Nov & 18/19 Dec
Following the success of the two summer arts market based in Blackburn Market, this special Christmas edition will bring together local artists to sell their creations just in time for the festive season.
Jane Samuels
January/Feb 2011
Jane aims to maintain the abandoned feel of the building, inviting the audience inside. The shop itself will be dressed in order to suggest narratives that could be explored by the audience, and filled with 3D boxed images of other abandoned spaces: an abandoned shop dealing in abandoned spaces.
LOOK at LET
8 - 17 February
.jpg)
Photography students will be looking through the lens at the people of Blackburn as the Blackburn LET Shop becomes a walk in studio.
The students from Blackburn College will be taking portraits of visitors and displaying them in an exhibition at the LET Shop in Blackburn. Everyone who has their photograph taken will be given a copy.
The scheme entitled LOOK will run from Tuesday, February 8 until Wednesday February 16 from 10 - 4pm, excluding Sunday and Monday.
The final exhibition on Thursday 17 February from 4-9pm aims to document the people of Blackburn and celebrate the diverse mix of people in the town.
See project blog and project flickr site
LET Shop 2 / Lord St West - Sally Leach
From August
.jpg)
The shop on Lord St West is on a key pedestrian route between the town centre and Blackburn College, it is unsuitable for letting, and is permanently boarded up. Artist Sally Leach has decorated the boarding in a visually exciting way, so that the shop becomes a positive feature. Please come along and have a look and share your comments on the LET Blog.
'Play Me I'm Yours'
.jpg)
From 9 July 24 street pianos were distributed across Blackburn, Darwen and Burnley as part of the LET project. Located in public parks, streets and squares, the pianos were for any member of the public to play.
Touring internationally since 2008 "Play Me, I'm yours" is an artwork by artist Luke Jerram, brought to you by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Burnley Borough Council and in association with BBC Radio Lancashire.
For a full review of the sounds, pictures and stories of the pianos visit www.bbstreetpianos.com
.png){kind=small}
