Talking Shop: Lancaster

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Talking Shop: Lancaster

Project Information

Date(s)

From 01 November 2010

Until 8 August 2011

Venue New Street / St Nicholas Arcades, Lancaster
Artist Alice Angus

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"I've been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of all the people and traders I’ve met in Lancaster. They’ve shared memories and allowed me to see 'behind the scenes' – and draw and photograph them at work! I’ve found a rich heritage of independent trade that people are rightly proud of, something vitally important to support, preserve and build on in the future."

Alice Angus

"Encouraging more shopping in the high street is not just about consumerism, it’s about community, identity and pride in our towns. Those businesses which took part in the Lancaster Talking Shops initiative did just that, they talked about the history of their businesses, how they had got to where they are today and the pride they have in the goods and services they supply. The Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce was pleased to support the project and provide a platform for our independent traders to demonstrate the wide variety of skills and goods offered to shoppers in our City."

Ann Morris, Chief Executive, Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce

"I felt a really important element of the project has been the "buzz" created amongst all participants, both the retailers and the community groups involved. Alice worked tirelessly to engage all participants and there is no doubt in my mind that it was her commitment to that engagement that enabled her to produce a terrific project result."

Jerry North, Centre Manager, St Nicholas Arcades in Lancaster

Sketch by Alice Angus

Talking Shop engages creative practitioners to work with independent businesses to document, celebrate and highlight their importance as hubs of the local community.

Artist Alice Angus was commissioned by Mid Pennine Arts to deliver a project in the Talking Shop series celebrating independent shops and shopkeepers, this time in Lancaster city centre. The project is being delivered in partnership with Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce, Storey Gallery and the History Department, Lancaster University.

Alice undertook research involving shopkeepers, stallholders and individuals and also spent time in some of the shops and market stalls, talking with traders, observing and recording life in those places. She also worked with local people, in groups and individually to understand their experience of shopping in the city.

Alice was inspired by the skills, crafts and care of traders she got to know in Lancaster, the history of cotton production and the combination of old and new technologies in the area. The resulting work combined traditional embroidery with drawing and cutting edge digital printing on fabric to produce a new series of large scale works, which was on show in the windows of an empty unit in New Street and then in St Nicholas Arcade in Lancaster city centre from November 2010 until August 2011.

You can visit the project website for further information, audio recordings and images. There is also a publication available from the project, if you would like to receive a copy please email Lucy Green at MPA.