A new exhibition which looks at Anfield and Garston through the eyes of its residents has opened at Open Eye Gallery.
The Flowers Still Grow, which runs 27 October, is the culmination of creative residencies People of Anfield and Childhood is a Garden, commissioned by Culture Liverpool and Open Eye Gallery.
Through a series of interventions from creative writing workshops and photography walks to pop-up street parties, photographer Emma Case and writer Pauline Rowe have worked with residents of Anfield and artist Miriam Flüchter has worked with residents of Garston to co-produce the displays.
The artists and residents have also worked closely with a range of community organisations and spaces including Garston Adventure Play, Kitty’s Laundrette, Homebaked CLT, Liverpool Lighthouse, Anfield Improvement District and Pinehurst Primary School, to develop works shown throughout the exhibition.
The exhibition primarily focuses on story-telling through photography with vibrant images of street parties and resident portraits, demonstrating the strong community spirit that runs through the streets.
While the inter-generational exhibition evokes a sense of nostalgia with the residents exploring what it was like growing up in the areas and questioning what we have lost, it also looks to the future.
Images taken by children from Garston Adventure Play feature in the exhibition and the images are curated by and interpreted by the children. The children even produced their own solution from cola and sherbet to develop the photos, creating a stunning effect.
The exhibition also includes a collection of poems inspired by the creative writing workshops in Anfield and a reading of a children’s story based on photographer Chris Illes’s childhood, growing up in Garston.
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Health and Wellbeing, Councillor Harry Doyle, said:
“The exhibition celebrates the people who make up the communities of Anfield and Garston while reflecting their concerns, experiences, and aspirations of the society around them.
“The residencies which culminated in the exhibition are part of our Creative Neighbourhoods programme, which aims to address the needs of each community at a neighbourhood level, encouraging local pride, a sense of place, inclusivity, accessibility and empowerment.
“Using creative practices enables us to provide alternative means of engagement, which allows us to better understand how best to support sustainable creativity for and by communities, celebrate local expertise and role models, provide up-skilling opportunities and signpost people to services that lack visibility or accessibility.”
Sophie Mahon, Open Eye Gallery’s Joint Head of Social Practice, said:
“Creative residencies in Anfield and Garston have enabled us to work closely and collaboratively with communities to showcase often sidelined voices of children, of local people and of broader social issues that impact Liverpool’s communities.”
Emma Case, Open Eye Gallery’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 connected in many creative ways with lots of different people and witnessed both the community’s frustrations and its constant hard work and dedication to bring people together and to support one another. I hope that this exhibition gives people a real glimpse of that and celebrates the community that we feel honoured to have gotten to know.”
Miriam 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 understanding of the history of this neighbourhood and its people. What has resonated most with me throughout is the deep love and connection people in Garston feel to their home and community and I am hoping this exhibition will reflect this love. The warm welcome I have received as an outsider in this community is a good example of the warmth that exists between residents, that I haven’t found words for, but hope my images will do it justice. The 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 join in and add to it.”
Married couple John and Sheila Keeley, who have lived in Anfield all their lives, took part in the People of Anfield residency and feature in a black and white collage of residents on the back wall of the gallery.
Sheila said laughing: “I was reluctant to have my photo taken but my granddaughter persuaded me. I’m glad she did – the photos look great, although I was gobsmacked when I saw how big they were in the gallery. We’re front and centre and look like the Grandma and Granddad in the middle with all of our grandchildren around us!”
She added “The project has really brought people together and allowed those of us who have lived here all our lives to share knowledge and stories with the younger generation.”