Celebrating Community and
extra{ordinary} – Photographs of Britain by The Caravan Gallery exhibitions
at the Hope Centre, 7 – 11 Broughshane Street in Ballymena
Monday 29th October – now extended to 20th December 2018!
Opening times: 9am – 3pm Monday to Friday (closed Saturdays & Sundays).
PRESS RELEASE:
Acclaimed documentary photographers The Caravan Gallery are launching the Celebrating Community exhibition at The Hope Centre in Ballymena, developed as part of a special initiative to raise awareness of the impact of substance and alcohol misuse.
The exhibition is the culmination of a process of engagement by The Caravan Gallery’s Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale with people and community organisations from across Mid and East Antrim, which saw their distinctive yellow caravan visit public spaces across Larne, Carrickfergus and Ballymena during the summer.
The exhibition will see The Hope Centre turned into an exhibition space for The Caravan Gallery’s work developed through the project as well as exhibiting the work of groups and individuals from across Mid and East Antrim that Jan and Chris engaged with, celebrating community contributions to making a difference to people’s lives every day.
Jonathan Hodge, Chief Executive of The Hope Centre said, “The Caravan Gallery have brought their distinctive and creative approach to Mid and East Antrim and the outcome of their engagement shows the importance of the creative arts for challenging the stigma and discrimination that remains around addiction, mental illness and social isolation, as well as recognising the contribution of people working in communities everywhere.”
Jan and Chris said, “People’s response to the photos we showed in the caravan and our interaction with the communities of Mid and East Antrim reinforced our view that there is creativity in all of us. We can’t wait to show the results of our collaboration and hope people will be inspired’’.
As well as the launch of the Celebrating Community exhibition in a specially created space, Hope Gallery will be exhibiting some of Jan and Chris’s best loved images from extra{ordinary} – Photographs of Britain by The Caravan Gallery. These images have featured in major galleries in the UK and internationally such as the Museum of Liverpool, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art and Paul Smith Space, Tokyo.
Jonathan continued, “We are delighted that Jan and Chris have brought some of the images from their major {extra}ordinary exhibition to Hope Gallery, and I know the public will really enjoy viewing them. The exhibition helps to reinforce our work to promote access to the arts through high quality exhibitions and to encourage people from all backgrounds to participate.”
Jan and Chris said, “We have been photographing the reality and surreality of everyday life since 2000 and are especially fond of the unusual, absurd and sometimes downright bizarre. We hope our work encourages people to be curious about their own surroundings’’.
The Hope Centre are supported by Big Lottery Fund, Mid and East Antrim PCSP, Arts Council for Northern Ireland and the Foyle Foundation.
For more information contact Jonathan Hodge at The Hope Centre (Phone: 028 2563 2726 or Email: jonathan@hopeballymena.com).
The Hope Centre is a provider of support to people of all ages who are affected by, or at risk of addiction. We also provide a range of support to families and carers as well as opportunities for volunteers.
