Pendle News Room

The Pendle community is invited to enjoy a weekend of free, creative fun in Nelson.

 

Nelson Reimagined: Artist Sharing will take place on Saturday 29 April and Sunday 30 April, focusing on the town's future at various venues across Nelson.

 

Over the weekend, residents of all ages will be encouraged to join in with artist-led events and activities which explore new ideas for Nelson.

 

They range from using virtual reality to create a futuristic video game on what work will look like in Nelson in 2050 to foraging walks and alternative town planning.

 

Nelson Reimagined is the artist-led strand of This is Nelson, an arts and cultural programme aimed at creating a brighter future for the town and for Pendle people

 

The project is supported with £730,000 of the Nelson Town Deal funding and is one of seven government-funded projects in the £25 million Nelson Town Deal.

The project is led by In-Situ, an arts organisation, and Building Bridges Pendle, working closely with community partner Super Slow Way.
 

The weekend’s sessions will be with by five artists who have spent six months engaging with local people and exploring the area to generate ideas for future projects for the town.
 

Artist Michael Powell will host an interactive walk around the town centre, exploring disused spaces with a few surprises along the way!

 

Artist Dana Olãrescu will be holding a free experimental food festival at the event, where visitors can taste meals cooked from sustainably sourced ingredients.

 

The weekend will end with an artist Q&A session at the Building Bridges office at 20 Scotland Road, Nelson BB9 7UU, from 4pm to 5pm on Sunday April 30.

And there will be a final exhibition of all the artist projects will be hosted in the Building Bridges project space from Sunday 30 April - 30 May during office hours. 
 

Paul Hartley, one of the founding members of In-Situ, said:

 

“This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the incredible work carried out by the artists so far and to thank our community for getting involved with their ideas.

 

“It will be a weekend packed with fun for all the family and, better still, it’s all free!”

 

Stephen Barnes, Chair of the Nelson Town Deal Board, added:

 

“A lot of work has been carried out over the past six months to find out what the community would like to see in Nelson and how we can make better use of the town’s places and spaces. 

 

“This event celebrates the activity carried out so far and we hope it will also spark other members of the community to come along and get involved in the town’s future.

 

"We would like people to book a place on each individual event so we can keep an eye on numbers. However, the numbers are flexible and will accommodate walk-ins if need be."

 

For more details about activity times and dates see the list below and to book your place at any of the events follow @This_is_Nelson on Facebook and Twitter and @t_ is_nelson  on Instagram 

 

If you have any questions about accessibility, please get in touch with calum@in-situ.org.uk 

Event listing - all free and open to the public

Saturday 29 April

Samantha Jones 

Alternative Town Planning

11am - 1pm Nelson Library  BB9 7PU

Come and explore how models for community action might sustain positive change in Nelson beyond the Town Deal funding period. In this conversation-based workshop, ideas around self-management and collectivism will be discussed in relationship to Nelson’s communities and assets. 

Andy Abbott

Future Of Work

1:30-2:30pm upstairs at 3B Systems, Every Street BB9 7JS

Please note that this venue is not wheelchair accessible, only accessed via stairs. 

Andy is designing a video game about The Future of Work in Nelson and would like your help in creating the characters and content. We will use an interactive VR experience as a point of departure to imagine what our dream jobs would be in 2050 - What do you do? How did you get to where you are? Do you like it and are there any challenges? 

Michael Powell

Nelson Reimagined Artist Walk

4-6pm, Meet at Building Bridges Pendle, BB9 7UU

Join artist Michael Powell on an interactive walk and talk around Nelson town centre exploring some of the underused spaces he has found during his time working as an artist researcher on This Is Nelson. This walk will be jointly led by Paddy Spain of Burnley Pendle Accessibility Campaign. There may be a few surprises along the way…

Sunday 30 April

Kristina Borg

Self-Guided Foraging Walk 

10am-12noon

Pavilion Café, Victoria Park  BB9 7SS

Pick up a zine and map from Kristina, developed through a series of walks with community members and foraging workshops with Pete Compston, and head out into Victoria Park. The zine will enable you to look at the park with a new lens, discovering the foraging potentials within the existing ecosystem. 

Dana Olãrescu

Experimental Food Festival

12.30 -2.30 pm Hodge House Community Centre BB9 8LJ

What does a sustainable, healthy, regenerative food system look like? What does Nelson’s food system look like at the moment?

Come join a free experimental food festival where you can taste everyone's cooking.

Socially engaged artist Dana Olãrescu has launched a challenge: she distributed £20 to those who wanted to cook a dish from sustainably-sourced ingredients. 

While trying various delicious home-made dishes we will learn about the sustainability story behind each one. Is it a simple or a daunting challenge? Can we reflect on this topic with honesty, integrity, and a desire to imagine the possible? A giant map of Nelson will be used to trace where all ingredients came from. 

This is a free and open to all event.  Whether you have cooked, or just fancy a nibble, join us at the table. 

Artist Q&A 

4pm - 5pm  Building Bridges, 20 Scotland Road, Nelson BB9 7UU

The weekend will end with an artist Q&A session held at Building Bridges, from 4pm to 5pm on Sunday April 30.

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