https://departure-lounge.org.uk Departure Lounge Mon, 17 Jun 2024 14:48:55 +0000 https://departure-lounge.org.uk en https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Front-Page Tue, 27 Nov 2018 20:08:18 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Front-Page Escape from ColditzAnnette Schröter&nbsp; Papercuts, Collage and Installation Robert Cripps Gallery, Cambridge 25 October 2025 – 9 January 2026 <img width="600" height="460" width_o="600" height_o="460" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5d7a234682f05fee276b87f7ccd9f24ac230b76ac6c9bb543b27108b02a24f66/Annette-Schroter--Werner--2024-.jpg" data-mid="238434545" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/600/i/5d7a234682f05fee276b87f7ccd9f24ac230b76ac6c9bb543b27108b02a24f66/Annette-Schroter--Werner--2024-.jpg" /> For further information please click here https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Catrine-Val-Mobile-Home Mon, 17 Jun 2024 14:48:55 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Catrine-Val-Mobile-Home Catrine Val—Mobile Home9-18 November 2023 Having worked successfully with Catrine Val in Luton on her project The Changing Room we developed our first ‘offsite’ project with her. Fascinated by the remarkable style solutions with which Londoners greet their daily lives, artist and photographer Catrine Val visited three of Queen Mary University of London to conduct photoshoots with students, staff and local residents. Participants were invited to take part in ‘fashion shoots’ featuring a combination of their own clothes and a selection of haute couture supplied by the artist in a conjecture on intercultural relations, migration, tolerance and the peripatetic nature of ‘home’. The photo sessions took place at three different Queen Mary Campuses including the spectacular Barts Pathology Museum at Barts Hospital.For further information on Catrine’s work please visit: www.catrine-val.com www.livingmemoryproject.org Part of the 2023 ‘Being Human’ Festival Organised by the School of Advanced Study University of London. Curated by Departure Lounge in association with Jana Riedel and the Centre for Anglo-German Cultural Relations, Queen Mary University of London. <img width="1000" height="750" width_o="1000" height_o="750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b73990d3fb32068ba092310fe94dbdc0486b2a81c5a2663c22b7e83fa048c0c1/Jana---Noreen----Adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060986" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b73990d3fb32068ba092310fe94dbdc0486b2a81c5a2663c22b7e83fa048c0c1/Jana---Noreen----Adjusted.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="706" width_o="1000" height_o="706" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/86703227af9aa13f09db823d6b9f5bbd30535abe6c7ba6c836f1aa869f600746/Rashed---adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060991" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/86703227af9aa13f09db823d6b9f5bbd30535abe6c7ba6c836f1aa869f600746/Rashed---adjusted.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="706" width_o="1000" height_o="706" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4625ecac3099f94390f865a252495fa795bda5deb8cc2128c318ce2602f8e1ed/Astrid-adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060984" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4625ecac3099f94390f865a252495fa795bda5deb8cc2128c318ce2602f8e1ed/Astrid-adjusted.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="706" width_o="1000" height_o="706" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/21f685daaefcc1e4cddfbff1bcdebd10e2d1170b2c23abd78e04a9b5c4569b3c/Edith-Mile-End---adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060985" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/21f685daaefcc1e4cddfbff1bcdebd10e2d1170b2c23abd78e04a9b5c4569b3c/Edith-Mile-End---adjusted.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="706" width_o="1000" height_o="706" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e3fe1bb73b49bb46dc7954c4b3a115ab55cff7d4f20afe0a15febe9bf9b8e108/Kinga---adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060987" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e3fe1bb73b49bb46dc7954c4b3a115ab55cff7d4f20afe0a15febe9bf9b8e108/Kinga---adjusted.jpg" /> <img width="768" height="1024" width_o="768" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f7f7d16eb53449c8843ddc869b25300357f6143222043c9d07278f3d292028a/Milo---Jack-2---adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060990" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/768/i/9f7f7d16eb53449c8843ddc869b25300357f6143222043c9d07278f3d292028a/Milo---Jack-2---adjusted.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7fa09784d4d334654637db083c27a8f688061add7c1b67a15e9e9295933c6e9e/Mia---Marina-Mile-End---adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060988" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7fa09784d4d334654637db083c27a8f688061add7c1b67a15e9e9295933c6e9e/Mia---Marina-Mile-End---adjusted.jpg" /> <img width="981" height="741" width_o="981" height_o="741" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d36b642448ca7e8e463b9cf204c2159ecf2d65115bf62c1cca96845550fbe417/ANUSHKA-adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060983" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/981/i/d36b642448ca7e8e463b9cf204c2159ecf2d65115bf62c1cca96845550fbe417/ANUSHKA-adjusted.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="709" width_o="1000" height_o="709" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bda34308a713dd7faf1ad0ae34fda2efa62dc3d3e13094f6d58f7959976d217f/Robin---adjusted.jpg" data-mid="213060992" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bda34308a713dd7faf1ad0ae34fda2efa62dc3d3e13094f6d58f7959976d217f/Robin---adjusted.jpg" /> https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Sophie-Gresswell-On-the-Wings-of-a-Wirebird Wed, 31 Aug 2022 10:22:11 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Sophie-Gresswell-On-the-Wings-of-a-Wirebird Sophie Gresswell | On the Wings of a WirebirdThursday 15 September 2022 - Saturday 29 October 2022 Round table talk about project @ Hatfactory Luton Thursday 15 September, 7-8pm https://www.culturetrust.com/whats-on/wings-wirebird-round-table Exhibition opening @ Departure Lounge Thursday 15 September, 7-9pm Workshop @ Departure Lounge - ‘Tea Tales’ Thursday 6 October, 6.30-8.30pm&nbsp; Departure Lounge is delighted to present On the Wings of a Wirebird, a participatory exhibition from multidisciplinary artist Sophie Gresswell. Based locally in Luton,&nbsp;Gresswell is initiating a year-long international project including a residency on the island of Saint Helena, an overseas British territory in the South Atlantic with a little-known history and small diaspora in the UK. Considering the legacy and history of empire and the Commonwealth, the project will explore themes of identity, mixed heritage and belonging, while also asking what it means to be ‘British’ today. <img width="1000" height="666" width_o="1000" height_o="666" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f8f7c7465697bf5335d689fbe5798fa72ff77e15b665361255cf12f2ee106a4/Sophie-Gresswell---On-the-Wings-of-a-Wirebird.jpeg" data-mid="151719467" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9f8f7c7465697bf5335d689fbe5798fa72ff77e15b665361255cf12f2ee106a4/Sophie-Gresswell---On-the-Wings-of-a-Wirebird.jpeg" /> This exhibition is a point of entry for the artist’s residency in the South Atlantic and will display works in progress including canvas hangings, paintings, collages, and poetry. The show will encourage visitors to contribute their own thoughts and journeys to the project, while also hosting workshops with local community groups to feedback on the themes of the exhibition. These public contributions will help shape the wider context of the project which will begin in early 2023 and will include with a series of further exhibitions in Luton, before concluding at the Higgins Museum, Bedford in Summer 2023. <img width="1000" height="750" width_o="1000" height_o="750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a2d5a9c406be2bada083715245dd58e4c2aa4936fb60e2209619b8383c6d8ad9/Sophie-Gresswell.jpeg" data-mid="151719738" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a2d5a9c406be2bada083715245dd58e4c2aa4936fb60e2209619b8383c6d8ad9/Sophie-Gresswell.jpeg" /> Inspired by personal history and heritage – the residency is the first time a member of the artist’s family has visited St Helena, since her grandfather migrated to the UK in the 1940s – this project represents the opportunity for Gresswell to reclaim a greater sense of her own identity. It will also develop a wider understanding of the extremely remote island’s largely hidden histories - which include trade links with India and East Asia via The British East India Company, the exile (and later death) of Napoleon in 1815 and later that of Zulu Prince Dinuzulu between 1890 - 97, as well as the shocking unmarked burial site of approximately 8,000 ‘liberated African slaves’ who lost their lives during decades of illegal transatlantic slave trade, which continued beyond abolition in 1807. These unspoken histories form the spine of Gresswell’s project and aim to foster debate and to reframe the complex interconnected heritage of the term ‘British’ both for the artist’s own familial connections and heritage, and for wider communities both home and aboard. Gresswell will produce a publication that will record all stages of the project and act as an archive for both the contributions of her family and the wider public, and their impressions on the undiscussed histories of the island and legacies of empire. Sophie Gresswell is a multi-disciplinary artist exploring identity and belonging. The purpose of much of Gresswell’s recent work is to visualise a connection between us which transcends our individual lifespan, and amplifies the way our human stories interconnect through generations to bring us to the current moment in time, and inform the very people we are today. <img width="3264" height="505" width_o="3264" height_o="505" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b1123c117b747229eb2829e7675a140c4efbe9302fd2220047c40389941f039/logos.jpg" data-mid="151816202" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b1123c117b747229eb2829e7675a140c4efbe9302fd2220047c40389941f039/logos.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7982f63a597d4161fe5e430edcfc60805e0bd16567c73f534e96ae7f3dac30a4/DSC_4072.JPG" data-mid="155163239" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7982f63a597d4161fe5e430edcfc60805e0bd16567c73f534e96ae7f3dac30a4/DSC_4072.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="823" width_o="1000" height_o="823" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f6f94d247dc81436d6a7bbac28166170a25b93509213f466102d76f006fdc3ba/DSC_4083.JPG" data-mid="155163251" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f6f94d247dc81436d6a7bbac28166170a25b93509213f466102d76f006fdc3ba/DSC_4083.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/870a26ccd2e6953572b218fbe1766c9d4a6585a7552371ee9848b63559649043/DSC_4079.JPG" data-mid="155163249" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/870a26ccd2e6953572b218fbe1766c9d4a6585a7552371ee9848b63559649043/DSC_4079.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="603" width_o="1000" height_o="603" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2d116220c1bbe52703f4d6110e9450a3ec85d16005f6a1c0f06286a24e71a463/DSC_4077.JPG" data-mid="155163245" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2d116220c1bbe52703f4d6110e9450a3ec85d16005f6a1c0f06286a24e71a463/DSC_4077.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="782" width_o="1000" height_o="782" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0182adecdc806f46c379fcad9daa9c2eb3232e2dc91851571233bfc331031005/DSC_4074.JPG" data-mid="155163241" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0182adecdc806f46c379fcad9daa9c2eb3232e2dc91851571233bfc331031005/DSC_4074.JPG" /> https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Amaal-Said-Home-is-Elsewhere-From-Where-I-ve-Ended-Up Thu, 05 May 2022 12:20:08 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Amaal-Said-Home-is-Elsewhere-From-Where-I-ve-Ended-Up Amaal Said | Home is Elsewhere / From Where I’ve Ended Up Friday 20 May – Saturday 30 July 2022 Private view: Thursday 26 May, 6-8pm Departure Lounge is delighted to present Home is Elsewhere/From Where I’ve Ended Up, a solo exhibition from photographer and artist Amaal Said. The exhibition, a unification of newly commissioned works and previous personal projects, explores the artist’s experience with fractured archives originating from the history of her own family’s migration. As a daughter of immigrant parents, moving from place to place and never being able to call a single place ‘home’, Said’s work highlights the importance of archiving and keeping belongings safe. <img width="660" height="1000" width_o="660" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6a86be7394b98c329d909505ae978383b1ac0ab510f9813fd2165f7fd8737981/Amaal-Said_Home-is-Elsewhere_2015.jpeg" data-mid="142570170" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/660/i/6a86be7394b98c329d909505ae978383b1ac0ab510f9813fd2165f7fd8737981/Amaal-Said_Home-is-Elsewhere_2015.jpeg" /> Home is Elsewhere (2015) is a personal project consisting of photographs taken on a trip to Kenya, during which she attempted to trace the origins of the family photo album she grew up with. Searching for the familiar in family portraits of her mother in her old bed, of her uncle’s wife and newborn baby, of her mum and aunts together, Said was instead left with something quite unfamiliar when most of the images were lost – a collection of images about home, which didn’t feel like home. <img width="666" height="1000" width_o="666" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d6fc05a04d16133868388078b5f8aa9b8ec6d35911a27c22ee10b3d01b32d2f0/Amaal-Said--From-Where-I-ve-Ended-Up--Sophie--2022.jpeg" data-mid="142570171" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/666/i/d6fc05a04d16133868388078b5f8aa9b8ec6d35911a27c22ee10b3d01b32d2f0/Amaal-Said--From-Where-I-ve-Ended-Up--Sophie--2022.jpeg" /> From Where I’ve Ended Up (2022), is a new commission which documents individuals in the places they find themselves now. Through photographs, Said documents the project’s participants lived experience in Luton, creating a link with the stories and locations in their past and their aspirations and dreams about where they might be in the future. The artist’s aim was to connect with communities in Luton, bringing them into a shared space. Through spending time and having conversations with each participant about what it means for them to be living or working in Luton, a collection of images emerges in which individuals inhabit the spaces of the town and make it their own. Looking at family portraiture both locally and internationally, Said’s exhibition considers the space between where we started and where we are now. Weaving her two projects together conceptually, Said explores the experience of searching for and discovering home, taking into consideration what it means when home is both here and elsewhere. Documenting both herself and participants across Luton, the artist highlights the importance of rooting oneself in the present and of archiving the impressions this offers up, weaving a connection with both the past and the future. With special thanks to Angel Miller, Imrana Mahmood, Inayah Inam, Sophie Gresswell and Tryphine Kachipande. Amaal Said (b.1995) is a Danish-born Somali photographer and poet based in London. Her photographs have been featured in Vogue, The Guardian, and The New Yorker. She is fascinated by storytelling and how best she can connect with people to document their stories. She won the Wasafiri Magazine’s New Writing Prize for poetry in 2015. In 2017, she was exhibited in Los Angeles, California. In 2018, her photography was featured in the fourth volume of African Lens and was exhibited in Accra, Ghana. She is a member of Octavia, poetry collective for womxn of colour, and a former Barbican Young Poet. <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c8b7992df5dcaee43e447de80d30b9d6f9e9389fe07731dad03bbc507fbe6c82/DSC_0054.JPG" data-mid="155163412" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c8b7992df5dcaee43e447de80d30b9d6f9e9389fe07731dad03bbc507fbe6c82/DSC_0054.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/71e6e9074be7b700684cd53aa82e3c91a8fcc6d90dfbc49053bc70d3f92301d2/DSC_0067.JPG" data-mid="155163415" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/71e6e9074be7b700684cd53aa82e3c91a8fcc6d90dfbc49053bc70d3f92301d2/DSC_0067.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/33e67a19fe45b7914436037dc5e52a69887011905a6019c4903621a4945f4096/DSC_0064.JPG" data-mid="155163414" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/33e67a19fe45b7914436037dc5e52a69887011905a6019c4903621a4945f4096/DSC_0064.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4dd9ab75913cc2e5c724b156800ba916e3ee4b29bf4109dcbf3c756e43ec1e90/DSC_0060.JPG" data-mid="155163413" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4dd9ab75913cc2e5c724b156800ba916e3ee4b29bf4109dcbf3c756e43ec1e90/DSC_0060.JPG" /> https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Maria-Meyer-Wafted-from-Paradise Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:51:52 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Maria-Meyer-Wafted-from-Paradise Maria Meyer |&nbsp;Wafted from Paradise 03 March – 07 May 2022 Private View: Thursday 3 March, 5-8pm <img width="1197" height="1686" width_o="1197" height_o="1686" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/63c7eab9b6fa9a10d1168fbd3397693ef9f38239dcb4a5d3b92030f6f0d23b75/truth-1.jpg" data-mid="134634013" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/63c7eab9b6fa9a10d1168fbd3397693ef9f38239dcb4a5d3b92030f6f0d23b75/truth-1.jpg" /> <img width="1197" height="1686" width_o="1197" height_o="1686" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/07c0d958b51a7bcbe12702979f91e72baa983e922d9dc551a83615c6b5dea429/dreams-1.jpg" data-mid="134634015" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/07c0d958b51a7bcbe12702979f91e72baa983e922d9dc551a83615c6b5dea429/dreams-1.jpg" /> Departure Lounge are delighted to present Wafted from Paradise, a newly commissioned project from multidisciplinary artist Maria Meyer into the typography and visual culture of Luton’s diverse landscapes. Originally from Leicester, Meyer felt a sense of nostalgia and familiarity, particularly while spending time in Luton’s varied and vibrant multicultural retail areas. Reading widely around art and architecture Meyer came across the seminal publication Learning from Las Vegas by architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown – designers of the Sainsbury Wing at London’s National Gallery. Venturi &amp; Scott-Brown coined the term ‘decorated shed’ to describe the diverse signage and built environment lining the strip in Vegas, with Scott-Brown describing her attraction to the kitsch, assemblages of typography and building materials as ‘hate-love exhilaration’.During numerous visits to Luton researching and developing her new commission, Meyer began to see parallels between assemblages of typography and signage in the shop fronts of Luton’s Bury Park and Hightown neighbourhoods and the larger-than-life mishmash of styles in Las Vegas. Adopting an amalgamation of cultural products, graphic design and signage appropriated from the town, this exhibition draws on these parallels, using a combination of digital photographic collage and typographic works to explore Luton’s remarkable retail environments. With local businesses often accommodating multiple unrelated businesses and services under one roof, these new works highlight the gritty optimism and entrepreneurial spirit of Luton’s communities. Beyond false nails, fried chicken, fruit and furniture, these shops offer nourishment, home comforts and connection to a community, which accommodates a diversity of beliefs and heritage, but which shares many of the same values. <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f79f5f82c4e6bbef47bcbbf124a6a4de82bc52d77fe76395c327d9bc1c2b60d7/DSC_0009.JPG" data-mid="155163116" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f79f5f82c4e6bbef47bcbbf124a6a4de82bc52d77fe76395c327d9bc1c2b60d7/DSC_0009.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="833" width_o="1000" height_o="833" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aa0179478c81c558fc3471043f231c6bce27090db26983d0c780595c86609f5b/DSC_0031.JPG" data-mid="155163119" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aa0179478c81c558fc3471043f231c6bce27090db26983d0c780595c86609f5b/DSC_0031.JPG" /> <img width="719" height="1000" width_o="719" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/721be6ac07c578f61ccee8488e329f92425702f4b9e180e48bf6941f06ff0d46/DSC_0017.JPG" data-mid="155163118" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/719/i/721be6ac07c578f61ccee8488e329f92425702f4b9e180e48bf6941f06ff0d46/DSC_0017.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="667" width_o="1000" height_o="667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2db70df9c4d6e25fe9a14a67f7f799075195209f68cbc78f35d49f3960d67604/DSC_0010.JPG" data-mid="155163117" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2db70df9c4d6e25fe9a14a67f7f799075195209f68cbc78f35d49f3960d67604/DSC_0010.JPG" /> Creative postcard workshop Saturday 5 March &amp; Saturday 12 March, 2-4pm Join artist Maria Meyer for our creative drop in-sessions where you will use collage and typography to create your own postcards of Luton. The completed postcards will be displayed in our window for the duration of the exhibition. You don’t need any previous artistic experience, materials are provided and the workshop is free!&nbsp; Suitable for 5+ (all children must be accompanied by an adult).&nbsp; No need to book, just drop into the gallery. Download your own postcard template to make at home hereIf you can’t join us for our drop in sessions then you can download and print a postcard template above, or pick up a blank printed postcard from the gallery to design at home. Any postcards dropped into us at the gallery will be added to the window display! https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Anna-Fairchild-Brutal-Lab Mon, 17 Jan 2022 11:25:47 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Anna-Fairchild-Brutal-Lab Anna Fairchild | Brutal-Lab 21 January – 12 February 2022 Departure Lounge are delighted to launch our 2022 programme with Anna Fairchild’s experimental installation Brutal-Lab. Anna Fairchild’s points of departure for this work, are the fragments of Brutalist inspired architecture she noticed and photographed while ‘walking-drifting’ through Luton in Autumn 2021. Fairchild’s interests include amongst others; Sundon Park water tower, the cast concrete facades of the Mall (the ‘Arndale Centre’) and the old ABC cinema. Brutal-Lab is a changing, open-ended exploration and development of Fairchild’s photographic collage workMap Memories produced in Istanbul in the early 1990s, film and photographic pieces presented as part of Are We Human, at the 2016 Istanbul Design Biennial and her exhibition of sculpture and photograms in Congruous at Saturation Point, London, 2021. <img width="2948" height="3931" width_o="2948" height_o="3931" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6dcb7ff226dcf6454fd235158991e5b9578cf64f7cd40eeb105908e9997471a7/6.PH-edit.jpg" data-mid="130458821" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6dcb7ff226dcf6454fd235158991e5b9578cf64f7cd40eeb105908e9997471a7/6.PH-edit.jpg" /> <img width="2883" height="3844" width_o="2883" height_o="3844" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c4d6a40f5881dc1998967939eb37903a3534b5104823865c1454039e2f3caf27/4.PH-edit.jpg" data-mid="130458820" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c4d6a40f5881dc1998967939eb37903a3534b5104823865c1454039e2f3caf27/4.PH-edit.jpg" /> <img width="2933" height="3911" width_o="2933" height_o="3911" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5a19de4e6eddad590a8d57307dd004100b4737612b496f593f91c4f7b676bc6/1.PH-edit.jpg" data-mid="130458823" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5a19de4e6eddad590a8d57307dd004100b4737612b496f593f91c4f7b676bc6/1.PH-edit.jpg" /> Including a composition of Fairchild’s photographic research, Photograms and experimental architectural models, Brutal-Labwill explore ways of working with digital and analogue photographic materials, photographic collage, writing and with direct cast sculptural processes. Brutal-Lab will inform an intuitive development of Fairchild’s current work, examining often-overlooked details and architectural forms in the urban spaces that surround us. The exhibition will close with a discussion led by Dr Debra Benita Shaw and John Stephens (further participants to be announced) on Saturday 5 February 2022. The closing view will be open to the public and further details will be avaliable shortly. <img width="1000" height="750" width_o="1000" height_o="750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f02ae1c1eb0c19dd2f493439104f7d3c0799dd7b4a9885ce15d36b17606230fb/IMG_4380.JPG" data-mid="155163058" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f02ae1c1eb0c19dd2f493439104f7d3c0799dd7b4a9885ce15d36b17606230fb/IMG_4380.JPG" /> <img width="750" height="1000" width_o="750" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ac529f8fab50a13175adae394fb42865ea665e8a89d52cab41d42468b993ee35/IMG_4484.JPG" data-mid="155163066" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/750/i/ac529f8fab50a13175adae394fb42865ea665e8a89d52cab41d42468b993ee35/IMG_4484.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="750" width_o="1000" height_o="750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6d84a9e186c97eb4cea035ac459713da9b09d90d0951ed7f883da29e354c0117/IMG_4626.JPG" data-mid="155163069" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6d84a9e186c97eb4cea035ac459713da9b09d90d0951ed7f883da29e354c0117/IMG_4626.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="750" width_o="1000" height_o="750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ae18c5bf084567ef4ed2e95ff47c80601020af20d21d04425ad3fe44122a639b/IMG_4387.JPG" data-mid="155163060" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ae18c5bf084567ef4ed2e95ff47c80601020af20d21d04425ad3fe44122a639b/IMG_4387.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="750" width_o="1000" height_o="750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9a6bfaed4817b45434fd26373cfeab2b762e482a55be38a5df69280012af49cc/499F5AC5-BBFD-4553-A1A0-E94AE9CEC2A8.jpeg" data-mid="155163057" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9a6bfaed4817b45434fd26373cfeab2b762e482a55be38a5df69280012af49cc/499F5AC5-BBFD-4553-A1A0-E94AE9CEC2A8.jpeg" /> https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Ted-Leeming-COP26-Most-Wanted-Playing-Cards Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:18:09 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Ted-Leeming-COP26-Most-Wanted-Playing-Cards Ted Leeming |&nbsp;COP26 Most Wanted Playing Cards 6 December 2021 - 15 January 2022(Window display only, the gallery is closed until Mid-Janaury for an extended Christmas break) Half the gases contributing to climate change have been released into the atmosphere since 1990…... (Source - IPCC) As we approach Christmas, Departure Lounge is taking an extended break and will return to programming in mid-January 2022. During this period of temporary closure, we are returning to our programme of window displays and showcasing environmental photographer Ted Leeming’s innovative COP26 Most Wanted Playing Card Project. <img width="640" height="427" width_o="640" height_o="427" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7c9dbe1feef356d8e6d206bbaacc01c3d6f18c9faf42ea7a291698bd24b1c926/image005.jpg" data-mid="126714007" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/640/i/7c9dbe1feef356d8e6d206bbaacc01c3d6f18c9faf42ea7a291698bd24b1c926/image005.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="4000" width_o="3000" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/421f6bf009a86cbec34cd772d5aa824e0e400be5f13f076ae32eb37c7698b8c5/IMG_20211206_123512.jpg" data-mid="126714020" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/421f6bf009a86cbec34cd772d5aa824e0e400be5f13f076ae32eb37c7698b8c5/IMG_20211206_123512.jpg" /> <img width="832" height="832" width_o="832" height_o="832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4e84e939c85be756e1c2cac86086989ff3e77ede09cb877d55b80a770d5ce69a/image007.jpg" data-mid="126714015" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/832/i/4e84e939c85be756e1c2cac86086989ff3e77ede09cb877d55b80a770d5ce69a/image007.jpg" /> <img width="4000" height="3000" width_o="4000" height_o="3000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/225ec298361c64d01043da91d3f8627ebf09b57d6668b1cc99cc17af541c37df/IMG_20211206_123419.jpg" data-mid="126713989" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/225ec298361c64d01043da91d3f8627ebf09b57d6668b1cc99cc17af541c37df/IMG_20211206_123419.jpg" /> <img width="899" height="600" width_o="899" height_o="600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fcb0fa231086498c7f05ae6339b7f5fbd64cb82b355d946df163eec84384b0cb/image006.jpg" data-mid="126714010" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/899/i/fcb0fa231086498c7f05ae6339b7f5fbd64cb82b355d946df163eec84384b0cb/image006.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="4000" width_o="3000" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/40a59193fb866a2df1807040de4519deb3e5ae96431fd48dfa5bdabd7fb534ac/IMG_20211206_123541.jpg" data-mid="126714023" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/40a59193fb866a2df1807040de4519deb3e5ae96431fd48dfa5bdabd7fb534ac/IMG_20211206_123541.jpg" /> With a passing resemblance to the ‘Iraqi Most Wanted’ playing cards produced by the US Defence Intelligence Agency in the aftermath of the Iraq war, the COP26 Most Wanted deck identifies the main causes and consequences of climate change, noting achievable solutions and mind resets. These include principally: · &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We - not them - are both the problem and the solution. · &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We can no longer simply wait for ‘them’ to address the imminent threat facing us all. · &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We must all ‘Be the Change’. Playing cards are a recurring theme in contemporary art practice with both Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali producing their own decks of Tarot cards, while American photographer Larry Sultan created a series of ‘Baseball Trading Cards’ featuring the luminaries of the American photography scene in 1975. Ted Leeming is an environmental photographer based in Scotland and part of the photography collective Leeming : Patterson whose practice focusses on issues surrounding climate breakdown. The COP26 Most Wanted Playing Cards window display is organised by Departure Lounge and is delivered in partnership with The Culture Trust Luton. https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Banyan-Tree-South-Asian-Dance-2000-2020 Thu, 28 Oct 2021 15:39:37 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Banyan-Tree-South-Asian-Dance-2000-2020 Banyan Tree: South Asian Dance 2000-2020 Friday 5 November – Saturday 27 November 2021 Opening event: Thursday 4 November 2021, 5-9pm, with introductions to the exhibition at 5:30pm and 7:30pm, and portraiture sessions 6-7pm. Banyan Tree celebrates the remarkable dance artists who have contributed their unique vision to South Asian dance in the UK, principally through the lens of photographer Simon Richardson. The exhibition is organized by Luton-based Kadam Dance and will coincide with the premiere of Kadam’s Dance’s new work Songs Of My Heart at Hat Factory Arts Centre on 12 November. The exhibition includes portraits of the current generation of dancers, mostly captured live in performance, highlighting both movement and inner stillness; the young generations being introduced to dance; and surprises, such as when the lens is turned to the audience in a dementia-friendly performance. <img width="2646" height="1894" width_o="2646" height_o="1894" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/62479c0d79dad11d8acfdeb027b99d978d504810c6299ec1831110a2cf18a15e/Amina-Khayyam--2012--Simon-Richardson.jpg" data-mid="123478125" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/62479c0d79dad11d8acfdeb027b99d978d504810c6299ec1831110a2cf18a15e/Amina-Khayyam--2012--Simon-Richardson.jpg" /> The last two decades have witnessed the diffusion of South Asian forms across multiple spaces. Forms that evolved in Indian temples have found new spaces from theatres to city squares, museums and even swimming pools! The images in this exhibition tell the story of the contemporary makers and performers and those from whom they have inherited the forms. Simon Richardson has photographed dance and performance for the last twenty-five years, with a particular focus on, and passion for, South Asian classical dance. His involvement with Pulse Magazine, the dedicated magazine for South Asian dance and music, has brought him into contact with that community throughout the UK and he has photographed many dance companies and individual performers. The exhibition also includes photographs by Vipul Sangoi, Nirvair Singh and Yaron Abulafia. Banyan Tree is supported by the Heritage Fund and is the first exhibition of South Asian dance of this scale with a national focus. This showing concludes a tour that has included London Bhavan and Curve Leicester. <img width="1836" height="228" width_o="1836" height_o="228" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8b19bd054b55a2ec538b37036718043140beea59fa1278e80b390671518b43b6/Screenshot-2021-11-03-at-13.11.09.png" data-mid="123478923" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8b19bd054b55a2ec538b37036718043140beea59fa1278e80b390671518b43b6/Screenshot-2021-11-03-at-13.11.09.png" /> https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Haley-Morris-Cafiero-Weight-Bearing Wed, 08 Sep 2021 12:57:19 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Haley-Morris-Cafiero-Weight-Bearing Haley Morris-Cafiero | Weight Bearing 18 September - 30 October 2021 Opening event Saturday 18 September, 2:30-6:00pm, all welcome, booking not required Activist artist Haley Morris-Cafiero presents a newly-commissioned and highly personal series of self-portraits at Departure Lounge gallery this autumn. Morris-Cafiero can be described as part performer, part artist, part provocateur and part spectator. Her work explores themes of body image, online bullying and societal expectations about female appearance. In this new photographic series, Weight Bearing, Morris-Cafiero has responded to the alarming reports of increased requests for help with disordered eating during the Coronavirus lockdown by drawing on her own experience of living with an undiagnosed eating disorder, many years ago. In these new, constructed self-portraits Morris-Cafiero uses imagery and symbols from everyday situations to communicate the invisible feelings that she associates with trying to control her body’s size and conform to the wider society and the media’s expectations of what a woman should look like. Haley Morris-Cafiero’s photographs have been widely exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad, and have been featured in numerous newspapers, magazines and online. Born in Atlanta, USA she is a graduate of the University of North Florida, where she earned a BA in Photography and a BFA in Ceramics in 1999. Nominated for the Prix Pictet in 2014 and a 2016 Fulbright finalist, Morris-Cafiero holds a MFA from the University of Arizona in Art. The Magenta Foundation published her monograph, The Watchers, in 2015. She is a Senior Lecturer in Photography at the University of Northampton. <img width="1666" height="2083" width_o="1666" height_o="2083" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cd0bdb5a7300ddb20a49dd9d8a70d207378dc7fee964d044a777170a3b67186e/SeniorPortrait_forwebsite.jpg" data-mid="118370739" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cd0bdb5a7300ddb20a49dd9d8a70d207378dc7fee964d044a777170a3b67186e/SeniorPortrait_forwebsite.jpg" /> Senior Portrait, 2021 https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Our-River Wed, 04 Aug 2021 13:52:52 +0000 Departure Lounge https://departure-lounge.org.uk/Our-River Our River | The People’s Picture 13 August - 4 September 2021 Departure Lounge are delighted to present Our River, a new exhibition in collaboration with Luton Council and The People’s Picture. Our River is a new public art concept for Luton which will commemorate those lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and celebrate the key workers that supported us and the moments of joy that got us through it. Located on the Mall wall facing the new Open Lea pocket park, the memorial will provide a place for reflection, remembrance, and hope, with the aim of brightening the lives of everyone in the town. The artwork will also exist digitally, enabling loved ones across the world to participate and providing a permanent home for our memories and messages. Located on the Mall wall facing the new Open Lea pocket park, the memorial will provide a place for reflection, remembrance, and hope, with the aim of brightening the lives of everyone in the town. The artwork will also exist digitally, enabling loved ones across the world to participate and providing a home for our memories and messages of remembrance. &nbsp;<img width="2048" height="1152" width_o="2048" height_o="1152" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5f71f93adbf5f06b906409c6d19e4dc09fc8f1bc35beb760fa976e52d96fdb66/River1-2048x1152.jpg" data-mid="115383701" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5f71f93adbf5f06b906409c6d19e4dc09fc8f1bc35beb760fa976e52d96fdb66/River1-2048x1152.jpg" /> Prior to the production of this new public art piece, this exhibition presents a selection of photographs already submitted by the public, works by Luton based photographers Aleksandra Warchol and June Essex as well as a tapestry by Bedfordshire based artist Sew N Sew. Acting as both a place for reflection and participation, the exhibition will grow throughout its time on display at Departure Lounge, with further images from the public being displayed as the project progresses. Our River welcomes photographs of people that have lost their lives during the pandemic, of the families they have left behind, of our key workers and volunteers and of the joyous moments that defined 2020. Community Photographer June Essex will be in the gallery on alternate Thursdays and Saturdays for those who wish to have their photograph taken and be part of the artwork. You are invited to visit the exhibition with your own significant photographs. June will sensitvely capture you and your loved ones’ images, along with your memories and stories and add them to the artwork. For details on how to submit your photographs, please visit ourriver.uk The People’s PictureThe People’s Picture is a photography and design studio founded by British artist Helen Marshall, that has evolved into a small studio of talented artists, technologists and designers. Each artwork is assembled from thousands of photos yet every single one tells a story. As an artist-led studio practice, they create innovative photo mosaic artworks and installations at the leading edge of art, design and technology. Pictures are powerful. People connect with pictures. People share their memories, dreams and celebrate through pictures.thepeoplespicture.com Aleksandra Warchol Aleksandra is Bedfordshire based documentary photographer specialising in shooting events, people and places. Taking photos since 1998, moved to the UK in 2004. She turned her passion into my profession in 2011. She graduated from University of Bedfordshire where she studied Photography and Video Arts. Over the years she she’s been working with a number of local companies and organisations including Leighton Linslade Town Council, Luton Borough Council, The Culture Trust Luton, Revoluton Arts, Seraph Agency, Volker Fitzpatrick, BBC Learning and many more . She has also been an official photographer for UKCCA’s Luton Carnival and Imagine Festivals. Alex photographs in a very unobtrusive way with minimal interaction, her approach is to tell a story as authentically as possible. “Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies.”— Diane Arbus . www.awarchol.com June Essex June Essex is a professional photographer with a lifetime of experience capturing and creating images for press, PR, corporate events, festivals and weddings, photographing everything from Prime Ministers to pop idols and all manner of weird and wonderful things in between. Her lifelong enthusiasm for all things photographic was sparked as a teenager working as a darkroom assistant at a local newspaper, captivated by the magical process of black and white printing, she eventually trained as a press photographer and gained National Council for the Training of Journalists qualifications. June, who has lived in Luton for more than 30 years, is now working as a freelancer having navigated the dramatic change from analogue to digital photography and darkroom to desktop processing. She needs no excuse to talk about photography and hopes that sharing her knowledge will help to inspire new talent to flourish! Of this project, June said: Lockdown in March 2020 changed our everyday lives in unprecedented ways. Families were separated, work habits changed or lost and travel restricted. Our immediate communities became a central focus for connection and expression during the most challenging of times. On my daily walks I became acutely aware of a more friendly neighbourhood. The greetings at a safe distance, messages of hope in windows, support for the NHS and key workers and the community spirit that drove many to volunteer and help the vulnerable. I felt compelled to photograph the things I saw and hope that the images will be a lasting record of the pandemic for future generations. www.juneessexphotography.com