A wonderful piece of street art – celebrating the historic Lancashire town of Kirkham – will come alive thanks to the voices of its residents.
Kirkham’s Cultural Consortium has launched an appeal for memories from town’s folk to help create a new piece of interactive artwork in the town centre.
The Consortium is working with renowned artist Alex Blakey to create a series of innovative art installations which will celebrate Kirkham’s rich and diverse history – from its days as a Roman fort, through the Industrial Revolution to today.
One of these imaginative installations – ‘The Talking Wall’ – will include images of people or places relevant to Kirkham. A special QR code, situated alongside the installation will enable people to scan and then listen to an audio recording of a specific memory on their mobile phone.
Now this is where the good folk of Kirkham come in!
Alex is looking for people to come forward so she can record their voices and memories to help create the artwork.
Were you born in the town? Did you go to go to school here during the Second World War? Perhaps you worked in a local mill, took part in a Club Day procession or have memories of dancing in a local dance hall or disco.
Alex said: “We are particularly looking for people with memories or stories passed down from Kirkham’s mills, market days, wartime, specific shops, the clubs that used to exist, nights out in Kirkham, Club Days etc.
“It is a blank canvas right now. It will be totally created from the recollections and stories we get from local people so I cannot wait to see what we uncover.”
Alex will be in Kirkham on Friday May 28th to record people’s memories. If you would like to take part please email Alex at alex.blakey.design@hotmail.com
Kirkham’s Cultural Consortium was formed to deliver engaging community heritage art projects as part of Kirkham Treasures – a pilot project launched after Kirkham’s successful bid for High Street Heritage Action Zone (HS HAZ) status.
Funded by Historic England, Fylde Borough Council and Kirkham Town Council, the £3.5m four-year HS HAZ programme is designed to revive the high street, restore local historic character, revitalise disused buildings, improve health and well-being and develop a new cultural vision for the town. Full details of all the projects go to www.kirkhamtreasures.co.uk