BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.5//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:9749@artinliverpool.com DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20240913 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20241028 DTSTAMP:20241014T115252Z URL:https://www.artinliverpool.com/events/open-eye-gallery-the-flowers-sti ll-grow/ SUMMARY:Open Eye Gallery: Open Eye Gallery: The Flowers Still Grow DESCRIPTION:The Flowers Still Grow\n13 September - 27 October 2024\n\n\n\n\ nLaunch night: Thursday 12 September\, 6 – 8 pm / RSVP\n\nThe Flowers S till Grow brings together a series of projects that showcase long-term col laborations between photographers\, creative writers\, and local communiti es in Anfield and Garston. Each project celebrates the people who make up these communities whilst reflecting their concerns\, experiences\, and asp irations of the society around them.\n\nPeople of Anfield and Childhood is a garden\, co-created with communities in Anfield and Garston\, are the result of two year creative residencies commissioned by Open Eye Gallery and Culture Liverpool. The show also includes Next Up…\, our annual gra duate showcase of work from the MA in Socially Engaged Photography course at the University of Salford\, and Social Lens: Celebrating Creative Coll aborations (exterior walls)\, a celebration of the collaborative projects we have produced over the past 8 years.\n\nWe live in uncertain times aro und the world today\, and the exhibition represents how multiple voices ha ve explored these concerns within their own local context. Some projects f ocus on the inevitability and concerns of redevelopment of suburban landsc apes\, and the impact of issues like austerity and the Covid pandemic have had on people living and working here in the UK. Others focus on the need for more opportunities and spaces for communities to come together to tac kle issues of loneliness\, poor mental health and something we all deserve : the right to be creative and play.\n\nSophie Mahon\, Open Eye Gallery’ s Joint Head of Social Practice\, said: Creative residencies in Anfield a nd Garston have enabled us to work closely and collaboratively with commun ities to showcase often sidelined voices of children\, of local people and of broader social issues that impact Liverpool’s communities.\n\nOur lo ng term community based residencies have enabled us to support people in s haring their own experiences about the areas they live in\, providing a pl atform for untold stories\, moments of celebration and space for concerns to be voiced. We are honoured to showcase works both at the gallery and lo cally in communities\, using photography and writing to creatively and col laboratively tell stories of our communities across Liverpool. \n\nPeople of Anfield \n\nThe People of Anfield is an artistic project engaging lo cal people of all backgrounds and ages to share conversations and ideas ab out the Anfield area – past\, present and future. The project has been d eveloped and delivered by photographer Emma Case and writer Pauline Rowe t hrough photography\, writing and discussion.\n\nAnfield is a unique city-e dge place that is transformed when visited by the world because of footbal l or musical celebrity. At other times\, most of the time\, the people her e long for a thriving high street and a beautiful environment\, facilities that communities can be proud of\, green spaces to be enjoyed\, creative expression and safe streets.\n\nAfter many decades of decline and neglect\ , Anfield was further hit by Brexit\, the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. But in this urban\, broken landscape\, between the cracks in the b ricks and on stagnant pieces of unused land\, flowers still grow. The flow ers\, like the people of Anfield\, grow despite their surroundings.\n\nThe re are two stories to be told. The story of a place in which the local env ironment and economy are in decline and living can feel precarious. And th e story of a local community that brings life\, vibrancy and connection to where they live.\n\nEvery face in this exhibition represents a unique sto ry. The community grows in strength and is collectively determined just li ke the wildflowers that also make this place their home.\n\nLike the flowe rs\, the people are what make Anfield beautiful.\n\nEmma Case\, Open Eye G allery’s photographer in residence\, said: It has been such a wonderful time working on this residency over the past year and a half. We’ve con nected in many creative ways with lots of different people and witnessed b oth the community’s frustrations and its constant hard work and dedicati on to bring people together and to support one another. I hope that this e xhibition gives people a real glimpse of that and celebrates the community that we feel honoured to have gotten to know.”\n\nChildhood is a garden  \n\nMiriam Flüchter is a socially engaged artist who has been working w ith communities in Garston through a two-year artist residency. Childhood is a Garden offers a multi-dimensional view of Garston\, aiming to paint a picture of the area that looks beyond the here and now\, into the past and future\, questioning what we have lost and what we wish for.\n\nThroug hout the residency\, Miriam has worked closely with grown-up residents to explore what growing up in Garston was like for them and local children an d young people living in the area now to examine the ingredients of an ide al neighbourhood through the lens of nostalgia\, memory and dreams.\n\nMir iam has worked with Children at Garston Adventure Play\, a long-standing y outh provision that started out as a community-led summer playscheme in 19 76\, as well as with local schools and community groups. Together\, they h ave explored storytelling through experimental analogue photography and te xtile crafts to create a playful &\; joyful family-friendly exhibition co-curated by children in Garston.\n\nMiriam Flüchter\, Open Eye Gallery ’s photographer-in-residence\, said: “Working with Garston residents from the ages of 3 to 95 has allowed me to gain a comprehensive understand ing of the history of this neighbourhood and its people. What has resonate d most with me throughout is the deep love and connection people in Garsto n feel to their home and community and I am hoping this exhibition will re flect this love. The warm welcome I have received as an outsider in this c ommunity is a good example of the warmth that exists between residents\, t hat I haven’t found words for\, but hope my images will do it justice. T he exhibition is largely curated by children between the ages of 3 and 11 for children\, and children and grown-ups alike are very much invited to j oin in and add to it.”\n\nNext Up…\n\nNext Up… is our annual gradua te showcase of work from the MA in Socially Engaged Photography course at the University of Salford. Open Eye Gallery has been jointly running this unique postgraduate course since 2018\, and the programme supports student s to explore the power of photography when working with real communities t o co-author meaningful culture. The exhibition features work by three earl y career photographers from our 2023 graduates.\n\nRachel Beeson presents her on-going project Picturing The Strikes – a UK wide exploration of working communities in Britain. The work brings together a series of beau tiful portraits\, images from the strikes themselves and personal stories from each of the participants involved.\n\nDavid Contreras worked collabo ratively on a project called Our Streets\, Our Stories with a local phot ography group\, Clickmoor\, to explore the act of undertaking street photo graphy together as a tool for wellbeing. Clickmoor developed as an indepen dent photo collective\, off the back of a previous Open Eye Gallery commis sion with local community initiative My Clubmoor and artists Emma Case and Katherine Monaghan. We are delighted to welcome the group back with David to present in the gallery with us.\n\nCyril Matthew presents a photo ser ies from his previous project Loneliness\, which explores the personal st ories of individuals experiencing isolation after migrating to the UK and spaces they have found themselves visiting in their new country for moment s of contemplation and wellbeing.\n\nSocial Lens: Celebrating Creative Col laborations (Exterior Wall\, 12 September – 4 October)\n\nExterior wall will present a celebration of the collaborative projects we have produced over the past 8 years. We have co-commissioned projects with partners acro ss the health\, cultural\, environmental\, charity\, youth and social just ice sectors\, to name but a few\, believing working in partnership with ot her sectors brings a strength in building knowledge and understanding.\n\n The works on display feature projects with NHS Merseycare foundation trust \, Wirral Change\, Sefton council and youth service\, The Life Rooms\, Roy al Horticultural Society and projects from our Open Eye Hub Wigan and Leig h programme. Collectively they represent what can happen when the expertis e of photographers come together with the expertise of people and their li ved experiences to tell powerful stories.\n\nPeople of Anfield and Childho od is a Garden are part of the Culture Liverpool’s Creative Neighbourhoo ds programme\; an ongoing collaborative project for communities throughout Liverpool.  It is a series of creative interventions in wards across the city\, taking the form of artistic residencies\, development of public ar t\, events and creative engagement workshops. This work uses co-creative p ractices to address the needs of each community at neighbourhood level. Th is programme is about creative place-making while platforming local voices and stories.\n\nImage by Emma Case\n\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.artinliverpool.com/wp-content/upload s/2024/08/POA_Pentax-6-1-1.jpg CATEGORIES:Exhibitions LOCATION:Open Eye Gallery\, Mann Island\, Liverpool Waterfront\, Liverpool\ , L3 1BP\, Liverpool\, United Kingdom GEO:53.40423;-2.994412 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Mann Island\, Liverpool Wat erfront\, Liverpool\, L3 1BP\, Liverpool\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=1 00;X-TITLE=Open Eye Gallery:geo:53.40423,-2.994412 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20240331T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20241027T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR