Our gallery
THE POSTCARDS
"Taking the exhibition to the public"
We sent artists across Yorkshire, the UK, and the world a pack of postcards featuring 15 Yorkshire Based Artists with one blank postcard to create on and send back to us.
Our project idea centres around community engagement and creativity during these challenging and unprecedented times, in which many creative practitioners are struggling with the financial and practical implications surrounding COVID-19. This process of creative documentation and community engagement appeals to us as a means of cataloguing our community’s thoughts and fears, messages of hope, and general experiences at this significant point in our history.
15 YORKSHIRE ARTISTS
Creative Director Sarah Francis explains ‘I have specifically chosen to communicate the project and its responses through postcards because of their tangible form, in a time where the world has become increasingly reliant on virtual, two-dimensional connections. The postcard as a souvenir of an experience, a communication tool, and as a memoir of our connections with the physical world echoes our intention to document and archive. It want you normally buy at the end of a exhibition at the gift shop on the way out, it wonderfully familiar and accessible as a medium
Using postcards allows us to take a physical exhibition to the public, and provides creatives with an alternative platform to share their work with others. The use of postcards to share messages amongst families, friends, and wider communities invites a sense of togetherness and social connection. By sharing photographs of these via social media we hope to inspire creativity and cohesion across a broader network, and to ensure that the exhibited work is widely shared and experienced. This will also support the creatives who were due to exhibit their work for the first time by offering an alternative end goal and minimising their lost opportunities.’
This project is funded by Leeds Inspired. Leeds Inspired is part of the city’s cultural programme that celebrates arts events and projects throughout the year, supporting high quality, accessible cultural experiences for Leeds’ residents and visitors. Founded in 2012, Leeds Inspired supports culture in the city through grants schemes, commissions and a ‘What’s On’ events website. Leeds Inspired is part of Leeds City Council. www.leedsinspired.co.uk
