Exhibition

SITES OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY | CAFE GALLERY | ANIMATE PROJECTS

9 Jul 2014 – 10 Aug 2014

Regular hours

Wednesday
11:00 – 16:00
Thursday
11:00 – 16:00
Friday
11:00 – 16:00
Saturday
11:00 – 16:00
Sunday
11:00 – 16:00

Cost of entry

Free

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Southwark Park Galleries - Lake Gallery

London, United Kingdom

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About

Sites of Collective Memory features four new animated works by artists Jordan Baseman, Shona Illingworth, Delaine Le Bas and Damian James Le Bas, and Roz Mortimer that offer intimate portraits of individuals — witnesses to historic events at places that resonate with individual and shared remembrance. CGP London is pleased to announce the premiere at Cafe Gallery of Sites of Collective Memory, a project with Animate Projects that will then tour to Phoenix in Leicester in September. Artist Roz Mortimer says: 'I set out to make a film about landscape and forgetting, but after encountering witnesses and survivors it became a film about memory and the impossibility of forgetting. ' Each work takes testimony as its starting point, reflecting on personal experiences of iconic and historic moments — the bombing of Hiroshima, the massacre of Polish Roma in WWII and the 7/7 London bombings — and in contrast, the private experiences passed down through British Romani families. The artists have worked closely with witnesses, survivors and storytellers in the making of each work: Shona Illingworth has been in dialogue with a 7/7 survivor to explore the effects of trauma on the individual and the media's manipulation of this traumatic event on society at large. Overall the exhibition considers how representations of history and culture are shared and influenced in our collective consciousness. The works employ diverse animation techniques, with images and film footage manipulated to create complex films that evoke the drama of the stories being told. Jordan Baseman abstracts footage shot of the sky in Hiroshima using stop motion techniques to create a space for contemplation. Delaine Le Bas and Damian James Le Bas are working with award-winning animator Katerina Athanasopoulou to produce their first animated work — one that will be reminiscent of tapestry, weaving together archival imagery, hand drawn animation and live action. The artists will be giving expression to human experience through their exploration of the possibilities of the medium. Alongside the exhibition at each of our partner venues there will be discussion events with the artists and workshops for young people to further draw people in to the themes of the work. There will also be limited edition prints produced from the works. Sites of Collective Memory is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Notes for Editors: Little Boy | Jordan Baseman shares the personal recollection of Ms Setsuko Enya, a survivor of atomic bombing, to consider the momentous impact that the first use of nuclear weapons has had on humanity since. The title references the name of the atomic bomb that was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Jordan Baseman is a visual artist and filmmaker. His solo exhibitions include Matt's Gallery, London; Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, Monash University, Melbourne and Collective Gallery, Edinburgh. He works with institutions including Papworth Hospital Heart and Lung Transplant Unit, Cambridge, Science Museum and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This is History | Roz Mortimer incorporates the testimonies of five elderly villagers, with footage of the landscape where former mass graves once lay, to bring to life the stories of genocide in southern Poland. Roz has worked with Roma children in London to re-voice parts of the testimony of the adult Polish witnesses. Roz Mortimer is an artist and filmmaker. Since 1995 her film have been widely screened around the world at film festivals, galleries, cinemas and on television. Her work has been supported by Arts Council England, Wellcome Trust, Rockefeller Foundation, British Council Film London, FLAMIN and Channel 4. 216 Westbound | Shona Illingworth presents a portrait of a survivor of the 7/7 London bombings, contrasted with the media's appropriation of an image of his face taken at the event, which has since become an iconic image of both advocacy and remembrance. Shona has been working closely with neuropsychologist Martin A. Conway, Global Security Research Professor Andrew Hoskins and the individual concerned in making this work. Shona Illingworth works across sound, film, photography, drawing and painting. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at the Museum of Modern Art, Bologna, the National Museum, Tirana and Interaccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, Toronto and she has received high profile commissions from Film and Video Umbrella, the Hayward Gallery and Channel 4. Chuvihoni/Lel The Chuvi (Witch/Summon The Witch) | Delaine Le Bas and Damian James Le Bas reveal the tales told at funeral vigils by the artists' relatives of suspected witches and encountered ghosts. This is the first time that the artists have worked with animation and are working with animator Katerina Athanasopoulou on presenting British Romani culture through language, place and kin. Delaine Le Bas is a British performance and installation artist from a Romani background. Her work has shown extensively internationally, and solo exhibitions include Transition Gallery, London, Galerie Giti Nourbaksch, Berlin, and Galleria Sonia Rosso, Turin. Damian James Le Bas is a writer, dramatist and poet. He is editor of Travellers' Times, and is part of The Romani Theatre Company. Damian is a regular provider of comment on Romani and Traveller issues to the BBC. Animate Projects is the only arts charity in the UK dedicated to championing artists' animation. They support artists in the production and distribution of innovative work, and develop opportunities for the public to connect with artists' work in new ways through collaborations with partners in broadcasting, art galleries, the charity sector, and museums. Animate Projects sustain and develop a substantial online space and educational resource at animateprojects.org, and promote critical debate through publishing writing and staging events. Set in the heart of Leicester's Cultural Quarter, Phoenix is an independent cinema, digital arts centre and cafe bar. A charitable organisation, Phoenix aims to bring inspirational film and art to all. Phoenix curates a digital art programme that includes exhibitions, talks and events in the Cube gallery, across Phoenix and beyond. As technology becomes a bigger part of our everyday lives, digital art offers new ways of looking at the world, helping us to make sense of things and challenging us to think differently.

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