CityLife

Treasure trove of inspiration

OPERA glasses mislaid by a visitor, hand fans lost by well-heeled ladies and scents dropped by clumsy spectators - the lost property list from Art Treasures is a fascinating legacy of Britain's largest art show on its own.

The objects conjure up images of another age, but community groups from across Manchester have used them to create a new exhibition.

Since opening its Art Treasures retrospective in October, Manchester Art Gallery has worked with nine community groups to encourage them to take inspiration from the achievements of the 1857 exhibition.

They looked at how their suburbs have changed over the 150 years since Art Treasures first opened at Platt Fields and were helped by five artists: Harriet Hall, Mike Garry, Tabitha Moses, Alan Taylor and Jim Loftus, who headed projects in Wythenshawe, Rusholme, Collyhurst and Harpurhey.

Two of the groups - the Crescent Community High School for Girls and Birch Community Centre Holiday Club - used the list to create modern replicas and 19th century fashion accessories.

In Wythenshawe, they looked at Victorian games and pastimes, while a team of five to 13-year olds at Addy Young People's Centre learned the art of Haiku - an ancient Japanese short poem - and wrote about their modern adventure playground.

At the Tree of Life Centre, also in Wythenshawe, 16 and 17-year olds photographed the area and wrote accounts of their lives. "There was a really varied view that came out of this project," said curator (exhibitions) Fiona Corridan. "There was quite a lot of humour in this show because it invited people to talk about their life experiences; one account from a member of the group recalled how his family argued a lot but still loved each other, really."

In Collyhurst, residents at Churnet Street Sheltered Housing turned an ordinance survey map of the area into a map of memories, snapshots and stories, while youngsters at the National Children's Home Foundation made models of how they would like a nearby patch of wasteland developed.

North City Diamonds

Harpurhey's North City Diamonds, meanwhile, saw the ornate style of Victorian dress and created beaded tiaras, which they wore then photographed themselves.

"The artist who looked after the Harpurhey project said it was lovely to see them develop over the course of the workshop," says Fiona. "They were very lively and imaginative but also became very productive as the project went on."

The Art Treasures Community Exhibition brings these projects together at Manchester Art Gallery.

It complements the main show but is also a natural progression of the spirit of Art Treasures. Art Treasures, when it opened, was the first time most ordinary people could come face to face with art, and so it's fitting that the exhibition's return should reach the people of Manchester again.

"Most people working on the projects wouldn't really have seen art as part of their lives before this," enthuses Fiona. "The idea was to try to find communities that didn't know much about the gallery or the exhibition."

The gallery is reaching out to certain suburbs because of their rich cultural diversity, adds Fiona.

"All the areas we chose are big redevelopment areas and it is interesting to talk to people about the involvement they have in the way their areas are changing. People are always interested in what's going on immediately around them.

"Everyone says we are losing that sense of community but what we've seen through this project is that people are still connected by their hopes and aspirations."

Art Treasures in Manchester 150 Years on: Community Exhibition in on at Manchester Art Gallery until Sunday, April 20. Free.