As it was – the story goes on in Abertillery
14 Nov 2016, Posted by Community, In the news, Kickplate Gallery, Out & About inEarlier this year, I was involved in supporting David Hurn’s exhibition, ‘As it Was’ at Abertillery’s Kickplate Gallery. Just in case you need a reminder – my earlier blog post can be found here. The exhibition at The Kickplate Gallery – a community art space set up for and maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers without any public funding to date – ‘As It Was’ was a selection of work David Hurn made in and around the area over a period of 40 years linked with the district.
As part of the exhibition, The Kickplate Gallery team gathered stories from members of the communities featured in David’s photographs, which I am pleased to be able to share with you all below (with permission of the gallery) went on to be published in the local paper ‘The Dynamic’. Forming a living historical document of the area, it is a unique record of life as it was then at that time, made available to future generations and also wider audiences to find out about. Sometimes with photography, it seems as though peoples involvement with a community stops once the photographs have been taken – it gives me heartfelt joy to see the idea behind this exhibition continues to grow, to give and develop the more that time goes on.
Whilst this exhibition is long since finished, the life span of this project carries on. It has been a joy to renew contact with the team at The Kickplate Gallery since it started many moons ago. With more revered photographers exhibiting since then – Ron McCormick and Roger Tiley most recently, Clementine Schneidermann and Sebastian Bruno upcoming, as well as more photography exhibitions rumoured for the new year – the reputation of the gallery space nestled way up in the valleys of south Wales continues to grow from strength to strength.
If you have a story you would like to share – get in contact with gallery co-ordinator Liz Baker either on Facebook through The Kickplate Gallery’s page, or via email at ebakerbartlett@aol.com Alternatively, you can share your stories about Abertillery directly with The Dynamic on their Facebook page here.
To find out more information about The Kickplate Gallery, get in touch with them at:
Facebook – www.facebook.com/thekickplategallery
Twitter – www.twitter.com/KickplateGal
For now, I hope you enjoy reading the responses in the The Dynamic as much as I have.
Kate x