Soup Stories: Gateshead Young and Old
Who took part?
Members of the Comfrey Project, Felling (a registered charity which works with refugees and asylum seekers on allotment sites with the aim of improving their conditions of life and general wellbeing), Gateshead Councils Cultural Volunteers and Edberts House (a community project in High Lanes Gateshead, that provides opportunities for all ages to meet together, form friendships, learn new skills and discuss local needs).
Why?
- Members of the above community groups volunteered their time to work alongside celebrated ceramic artist, Paul Scott, to help develop a permanent piece for the Shipley Art Gallery’s internationally important craft collection and to create their own pieces of art.
- Poignant to Gateshead, these groups worked alongside Paul and each other, to share and artistically explore what Gateshead meant to them, what it meant to be a resident there and their own unique thoughts and view points about the community they live in from differing generational and cultural perspectives.
- To increase meaningful interaction from a diverse range of Gateshead residents; promoting an understanding between people from different backgrounds and generations.
What took place?
During a series of month’s members of the three groups talked with Paul about their lives, their families, and their memories and impressions of Gateshead. Working with a range of source materials representative of these discussions, each person created a pattern to feature on their own soup bowl.
Representatives from the three groups then came together for a final session with Paul to share what they had created and the story their bowl held for them. This group then created a collaborative design to feature on a larger bowl using transfers printed with blue and white patterns; echoing Paul’s own artistic approaches with the use of familiar blue and white imagery, commonly found in mass produced ceramics.
The members of the Comfrey Project also worked alongside chef, Sam Storey to create Indian Spiced Chickpea & Oven Roasted Tomato soup, which was served at the final café event.
Soul Soup Café Event
All the bowls created through out the project were celebrated as part of an exhibition at The Shipley Art Gallery, “Soup Stories : Gateshead Young and Old”. The exhibition had a launch event to which family and friends of all who had been involved in the project were invited.
Find Out More:
The Comfrey Project
Edbert House
For further information on Edberts House on 0191 469 1066.
Gateshead Council Cultural Volunteers
For further information on Gateshead Council’s Arts Development Team, on 0191 433 6919.
The Shipley Art Gallery
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