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JMW Turner, The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834, 1835. Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art (Tim Brennan, Crusade, Day 25)
Exhibition
AV Festival 2016: Meanwhile, what about Socialism? Tim Brennan: Crusade
27 Feb 2016 – 27 Mar 2016
Regular hours
- Saturday
- 12:00 – 17:00
- Wednesday
- 12:00 – 17:00
- Thursday
- 12:00 – 17:00
- Friday
- 12:00 – 17:00
Cost of entry
Free
Address
- Orbis Community
- 65 High Street
- Gateshead
England - NE8 2AP
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- Nearest bus station: Gateshead Interchange
- Nearest Metro station: Gateshead Metro
- Nearest Railway station: Newcastle Central
In summer 1996, artist Tim Brennan spent 25 days walking 298 miles along the route of the Jarrow Crusade. Fragments of material were prepared by the artist and collected en route.
About
In summer 1996, Tim Brennan spent 25 days walking 298 miles along the route of the Jarrow Crusade, the famous protest march that took place sixty years earlier in 1936 – the same year George Orwell began his journey north from London. Avoiding the representational, fragments of material were prepared by the artist in advance and collected en route, including newspaper cuttings, maps, postcards, historical quotes and political statements from the 1930s; allowing a co-existence and rupture between the past and present.
In opposition to the notion of historical re-enactment, Brennan inserted himself into the physical reality of the walk, its route and the world around him. The memorial to the Jarrow Crusade already existed; the process of walking the route activated this without a need for dramatic restaging or the construction of public monuments. Now eighty years since the Jarrow Crusade, this archive is re-presented, to bear witness to the 21st century. Relinquishing artistic authorship, history has decided how we view and read this archive today.
Curated by AV Festival 2016: Meanwhile, what about Socialism? as part of the Festival group exhibition across nine venues in Newcastle and Gateshead.
The exhibition includes work by the following artists and archives: Thomas Spence (UK), Amber Films (UK), Jack Common/North East Film Archive (UK), Tim Brennan (UK), Hugo Canoilas (Portugal), Dan Perjovschi (Romania), Madhusudhanan (India), Pallavi Paul (India), Haim Sokol (Russia), R.E.P. (Ukraine), Claire Fontaine (France).
The Festival title comes from a quote in George Orwell’s book ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’, which is the thematic framework for AV Festival 2016-2018. In 1936, Orwell spent two months living in the industrial North observing working-class life amidst growing social injustice, poverty and unemployment. The book is an analysis of English socialism, concluding that the basis of democratic socialism is equality and fairness. Mirroring the book's structure, AV Festival 2016 is Part One, with artists situating themselves in relation to historic and contemporary political struggle. Presented in 14 venues the programme features 12 solo installations, 48 film screenings, nine artist talks and four performances.
For more information about the whole AV Festival programme please visit: www.avfestival.co.uk
