Fighting Resistance 2017 - Salford Museum and Art Gallery and Working Class Movement Library 27th July 2017

In Service  1918 - 2017 James Bloomfield

Salford Museum and Art Gallery & Ordsall Hall, Salford | 31st July - 10th November 2017 | Launch 27th July The Working Class Movement Library 6.30 - 9pm

To mark the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele, artist James Bloomfield has been resident at Salford Museum & Art Gallery and the Working Class Movement Library. Delving into this fabulous rich archive, Bloomfield has created a truly special piece of work that engages with the audience directly and asks us to look at our history and the global legacy of the war to end all wars. 

The outcome of this research is the creation of 226 commemorative ceramic plates. The plates reference each conflict and the number of fatalities for that conflict. Instead of being in display cases or on the gallery walls, the plates will be placed into service in the Gallery Cafe, presenting the findings of Bloomfield’s research directly to visitors.

The plates will be used as part of the regular dinner service at Salford Museum & Art Gallery‘s bustling Café and in Ordsall Hall’s coffee shop. The plates will be presented for service on 31 July and later decommissioned on 10 November to coincide with the centenary of the battle of Passchendaele, which runs over these exact dates (3months and 6 days).

“When I started this project I didn’t know where the research would take me, I especially didn’t think I would be hand decorating 226 plates each plate to mark a global conflict since the end of the war to end all wars. I want the work to become part of the domestic, our consciousness to remember those that have been involved in conflict or who still are “ says Bloomfield of the project.

Signalling the launch of In Service, Professor Paul Rogers (Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University) will give a special talk on "New Wars and How to Prevent Them. Giving insight into the three core issues facing the world and our approaches to these issues.

In Service has been funded and/or supported by Arts Council England, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Salford Remembers Fund, Salford Community Leisure and Salford City Council’s programme to commemorate the centenary of World War One, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund .

 

Future Wars and How to Prevent them

Thursday 27th July|6 - 9pm , Working Class Movement Library, Salford

Join us for the launch of this brand new solo exhibition , which will include an introduction to the project and insights into the work from James Bloomfield and a talk from Professor Paul Rogers on "New Wars and How to Prevent Them" For more information on the event, including booking details please visit www.jamesbloomfield.co.uk

---

Fighting Resistance Meeting with SMAG and WCML

Last week saw my research period come to a close and the presentation of my ideas to the team at Salford Museum and Art Gallery and the Working Class movement library. It was a great meeting with everyone interested in the process I had undertaken over the last 6 months. From researching Pilkingtons Tiles and learning about the infamous William Burton to visiting the amazing collection at SMAG and WCML.

I talked about my fascination with the idea for a Refuge and the possibilities of recreating one in the gallery setting and of my visit to Lindesfarne and Holy Island to document the refuges there. I really like the idea of offering refuge or sanctuary in these times we we live in.  Other ideas included the transmitting through radio waves the names of the 16,000 conscientious objectors and the creation of a set of Commemorative plates marking each global conflict since the end of the First World War of which there have been 226.

The idea that excites me most and ties in with my practice in the strongest way is the commemorative plates, it links in with the Pilkingtons Collection and Archive situated at the Gallery, it ties in with my current obsession of conflict and ceramics and then there will be a perfomative aspect of the presentation of the plates by having them used in the cafe at SMAG and Ordsall Hall as part of the regular service.

I am know in the process of creating 226 commemorative plates! watch this space

Tour of Working Class Movement Library - Tuesday 16th August

-->

For those of you who haven’t been to the Working Class Movement library on Chapel Street I urge you to go for two reasons. Firstly for the brilliant story about how it was formed and how it ended up located across from the University. Secondly to learn something about the history of the working people, your history this is the history of my parents and grandparents and there parents. It also houses some of the best collections of social literature that I have seen. 

I had a great tour of the collection by Lynette Cawthra the manager of the library, I was privileged to spend time in the Thomas Paine room where there is the largest collection of his writings in the UK  a gift from a prominent collector. I have been trying to track down the original pamphlet “Common Sense” for some time now and there it was (this is the pamphlet that was banned as it was so incendiary and sparked the American revolution to throw out the Brits)  I saw rooms and rooms of peace pamphlets, books on socialism, warfare, nuclear disarmament, I could quite easily have sat in any of the rooms and have my reading material for the next 50 years ! 

There is also a great ceramic collection in one of the back rooms, containing many commemorative plates, tankards and jugs, sparking ideas for possible pieces for my WW1 Fighting resistance project. What struck me was the creation of a collection that was formed by two individuals with a passion for books on working class history, and the foresight to protect this. How much of our history is white washed or green washed, hidden from us or re-written to support the ruling classes. This library is a beacon for the common man and a start point for what I believe to be a great adventure.

For more information on the Working Class Movement Library please click here:
http://www.wcml.org.uk/

Pilkingtons Lancastrian Pottery Society talk at Salford Museum and Art Gallery 17th September

-->

On Saturday 17^th September I attended a talk at Salford Museum and Art Gallery about Pilkington Tiles the talk was from Barry and Angela who are from the Lancastrian Pottery Society. The talk centered around the formation of the company from the 4 brothers who owned the coal company and discovered the clay deposits in the Pendleton Fault. Their first thought was to build a brick factory but they found out that the clay was unsuitable for this from an expert who suggested it could be used to create tiles and there was at the time a huge demand for ceramic tiles.

 The story for me got interesting when the brothers approached a Mr. William Burton who was well respected and currently employed at Wedgewood. The brothers courted Burton and he was finally released from Wedgewood in 1891.  William Burton was a Ceramic chemist and came with quite a reputation, he was responsible and sole master of Pilikington tiles, free to hire whomever he wished, many of whom he poached from the many Potteries of Stoke and Stafford, much to other companies disapproval!

 The company grew on this mans vision, his dazzling exhibitions and showmanship and spirit, he was also a great advocate for workers rights and pioneered many of today's practises of health and safety especially with regard ventilation and the use of lead in many of the enamel paints used in the potteries. 

  William Burton also employed many great artists both male and female and fostered an extremely creative and exciting environment to work in one such Artist was John Forsyth who created some beautiful tile pieces and fine examples of lustre ware, he also created the Peace vase that is on display dedicated to the end of the First World War. Forsyth also created an extraordinary vision of 6 massive tile panels celebrating the history of Ceramics that went on display in the Liverpool Museum. This tile piece was one of the only artworks to survive the bombings of WWII.

 Salford Museum and Art Gallery managed to secure the companies Archive when the company sadly went into receivership in 2010 when its overdraft ad loans were called in.  I will be accessing this in the coming weeks and look forward to finding out more about this great local employer and the people who worked there.

More information on the Lancastrian Pottery Society here : http://www.pilkingtons-lancastrian.co.uk/

Fighting Resistance WW1 - Artist Residency at Salford Museum and Art Gallery & Working Class Movement Library

I am pleased to announce that I have received Arts Council funding for a new project working with Salford Museum and Art Gallery and the Working Class Movement Library. I will be Artist in Residence as part of an open Network Residency with access to both institutions with the aim of creating a new body of work for public exhibition.

 The project is based on a contemporary artistic response to the World War I centenary looking at Conscientious Objectors, War profiteering, War resistance and Shame Propaganda. I will have access to the Pilkington Tile and Pottery archive which is now part of the Salford Museum and Art Gallery collection.

 As part of this year long project I will be working with Mark Devereux Projects,  and also partnering with Castlfield Galleries New Art Spaces Churchgate House in Bolton where I have a great studio space to work from.

 The exciting thing about the project is that it is research driven and there are no pre-conceptions about the artwork that will be created. This gives me freedom to follow my muse and artistic process, to create a contemporary response to World War I.

Research has started to day with the arrival of two great books, The Pot Book by Edmund De Waal - an A-z guide of over 300 makers, schools and styles throughout history and Comrades in Conscience by Cyril Pearce - The story of an English community's opposition to the Great War.


This blog will be used to document the project as it develops