living archives

living Archives (2017) Artist project with Partners in creative learning, Streetwise Youth Group, Staffordshire.

A fascinating element in collaborating with young people on heritage is which aspects of it motivate, engage and inspire them. Their unique perspectives often take us down unexpected paths. After a research trip to Stoke-on-Trent’s City Archives, the group discovered very little in the way of heritage material, relating to their suburb on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, certainly nothing of interest to reflect the character and people of their local area. It provided the motivation, to undertake a project to document their neighbourhood and better represent their community. In producing a photographic record and creating heritage material for future audiences, they could counter the gap in the City Archives and create an archive of their own.

Exploring their environment through the lens of a camera, and interviewing community residents, enriched their status within the area. They gained confidence through their documentary endeavours and gradually emerged as community figures themselves. There was a great deal of support from the community, for the positive stories they were collecting and the portrait they were creating.

After going out into the neighbourhood photographing and interviewing local business owners and residents, they wanted to bring the community together and reach some of the more senior members. Organising a tea-dance proved to be an ideal way to gather more stories, and it was a lovely thing that the group organised for the community. People came to eat cake and drink tea, but they brought old photographs, shared personal histories and posed for community portraits.

The project gave young people a positive presence and voice within their community and, empowered them to see heritage as an ongoing resource that they could actively participate in and create. The young people established themselves as archivists and historians of their local area, expressing its cultural identity and heritage through its residents. The group’s creative work evolved into a book (Stories Of Bentilee), a collection of community photographs and stories and a portrait of an ordinary community, composed of everyday people all with their own story to tell.

A selection of the young peoples photographic work

Living Archives was an intergenerational community and heritage photography project. Photographic work and oral histories were developed into a book—Stories of Bentilee—created for Stoke-on-Trent City Archives.