TRADING POST
Allenheads Contemporary Arts, 2011
An eleven month artist residency with Allenheads Contemporary Arts (ACA), located in a small ex-ming community in rural Northumberland. The idea was to regenerate the former village post office, closed since 2007, back into a place for gathering and exchange.
Developed through regular conversation and encounter between village residents and visitors to the region, artist in residence Andrew Wilson co-created a Trading Post in the heart of this rural community.
“The collection at ACA offers a tableau of its locality – through the objects, songs and sounds of the place, and it’s people”
Trading Post brought together a diverse collection of objects, songs, stories, and sounds which were archived and exhibited as they grew. This assemblage became a co-created instalation which presented a broad portrait of the local and passing village community.
Trading Post: Installation in the former village post office
Allenheads Contemporary Arts
Based in the Old Schoolhouse overlooking the village of Allenheads in Northumberland, Allenheads Contemporary Arts (ACA) is an artist-led organisation that has worked regionally, nationally and internationally to deliver innovative contemporary arts projects. ACA was established in 1995 by artist Alan Smith and curator Helen Ratcliffe.
Below:
Browse The Allenheads Collection, collected throughout the residency, and the many other events hosted by the project.
THE ALLENHEADS COLLECTION
The Allenheads Collection is an assemblage of items that were donated from Allenheads residents, located in the High Forest area of Northumberland, and its regular visiting community.
Residents and visitors were asked to contribute both ‘loved’ and ‘unloved’ items to be assembled and exhibited within the old village post office.
No items were turned away from the collection.
01. Astronauts Soap
04. Penguin
07. The Evening Chronicle (1959)
14. Sign (from St. Nicholas’ Hospital)
16. Pretty gems
21. Cartoon drawing
25. Optimus Prime (mask)
29. Premature babies nappy
37. Cassette tapes
41. Marble Heart and Brain
44. Hammer
48. Hunky Dory (Record)
51. Jelly (Rosehip and Apple)
54. Stethoscope
02. Chewbacca Toy
05. The best boots i’ve ever had
08. Graceland
15. Barn Owl
19. Emergency telephone
22. 1st Brithday Cards
27. Sunglasses (Ibiza 1997)
34. 24 seconds of my time
38. Christ (with sacred heart)
42. Gavel & paperclip
45. Garden
49. Sphygmomanometer
52. Bottle opener
57. Bottle
03. Beach Hut (Swansea)
06. Poems
09. ACA Lightbulb
16. Gun powder flask
20. Photograph (Clowns)
24. Wedding veil (1960’s)
28. Ballet Shoes
36. Postcard (Mona Lisa)
40. Aprons
43. Grandfather’s Ship
47. Fishing Reel
50. Uniform (Girl Guides)
53. Stained Glass
58. Field Glasses
Trading Post: Activities & Events (selected)
COLLECTING: A Lab Event
March, 2011
Artists Ben Jeans Haughton and Mathew Giraudeau led a round table discussion on the theme of Collecting form the old village Post Office.
Invited participants included representatives from Newcastle University, Carlisle University, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, and Allenheads residents. Each participant was asked to bring any object they have collected as starting points for discussion.
Collecting - Lab Event / March 2011
Susie and Minnie Dinner / August 2011
SUSIE & MINNIE: Dinner
August, 2011
Initiated by artist Sharon Bailey to meet and record the eldest residents of the village community we hosted a meal with Minnie and Susie from the old village Post Office.
This event later merged as a component for Kypros Kyprianou and Simon Hollington’s ACA residency research entitled The Allenheads Findings.
THE ALLENHEADS COLLECTION: Exhibition Opening
June, 2011
To mark the completed exhibition of collected items in the old village Post Office we invited several buskers from the streets of Hexham and Newcastle to perform in pubs and on the street corners of Allenheads.
A 1970’s caravan, converted into a mobile cinema screened movies for children and visiting artist Linda Rodenheber captured family portraits in floral beauty.
The evening climaxed with an evening of music Newcastle based Wellington Boot and a DJ set from artist Toby Lloyd.
Exhibition Opening (Wellington Boot) / Allenheads / June 2011
Exhibition Opening (buskers in the village) / Allenheads / June 2011