Side Gallery 40th Anniversary Brochure

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SIDE

13 MAY - 9 JULY 2017

CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS OF SIDE GALLERY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIDE GALLERY! Side Gallery was launched in 1977 by the Amber Film & Photography Collective as a specialist venue to exhibit, support and commission the best in humanist documentary, because at the time there wasn’t a venue in Newcastle which would exhibit such work. The gallery’s core values have changed very little over the past 40 years and it still operates by the following principles: •

Egalitarian collective practice can be an effective alternative organisational structure;

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Have genuine concern for working class & marginalised communities in the NE of England & beyond;

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Provide a public cultural platform for the stories of mis or under-represented communities;

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Documentary practice is not only an invaluable part of the arts, but also to life and culture in general. It should therefore be protected, promoted and made as accessible as possible.

SIDE NOW •

Continues to be ran by the Amber Film & Photography Collective, in conjunction with Side Cinema and the Amber Film workshop;

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The longest established independent gallery in the North East;

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The only specialist documentary photography gallery in the UK;

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Supports emerging, mid-career and established talent from the region and beyond;

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Showcases (often premiering) the best in visual storytelling from around the world;

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Situated in its original quayside location and has strong links with its locality;

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Delivering over 400 Exhibitions in 40 years;

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Contributes towards a living archive, containing over 20,000 images, 10,000 slides and 100 films, of world class, regionally & internationally important visual narratives.

In 1978 the great photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson celebrated his 70th birthday with a retrospective at Side. The catalogue of photographers who have shown here since is remarkable. Our recent redevelopment works enable us to build on this for you over the next 10, 20, 40 years. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

THE COAL COAST Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen

EXHIBITION OPENING EVENT & PHOTOGRAPHER’S TALK

13th May - 9th July 2017

Saturday 13 May 2017 . 2pm . Free

Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen’s photographs explore the ‘terrible beauty’ of Durham’s coal-scarred coastline. The wreckage of the mining industry that defined a culture and shaped its communities lies strewn across its beaches, discarded ‘memorabilia’ erupting from the plateaux of colliery waste.

East Durham is being tidied up, re-landscaped and designed for new pursuits, erasing the memory of coal.

These extraordinary images capture a moment in time; the fossils of a deposed industry; a heritage trail of sorrow and wonder.

The photographs, taken between 1999 and 2002, represent Konttinen’s first move into colour, something she felt was demanded by the alarming vividness of the subject. Now, 15 years later, in celebration of the Gallery’s 40th anniversary, Side is revisiting the Coal Coast.

The exhibition also incorporates an audiovisual installation entitled ‘Song for Billy’: the result of a cross cultural, international collaboration between Amber/Side, creative producers Forma Arts, New York based sound artists, Sō Percussion and ex-miner Freddie Welsh. Completed in 2016, it combines Sō Percussion’s response to ‘The Coal Coast’ and Freddie Welsh’s personal testimony of the death of a young miner at Easington pit in the 90s.

Open until 11pm on Saturday 20th May

TRANSGRESSIVE NORTH & SIDE CINEMA PRESENT

FOLK FILM GATHERING ON TOUR

2017 15 May - 4 JUNE

NEWCASTLE

THE WORLD’S FIRST FESTIVAL OF FOLK CINEMA

FOLK FILM GATHERING ON TOUR Side Cinema . £5/£4 We are very excited to be hosting the first ‘Folk Film Gathering On Tour’ as part of Side’s 40th birthday celebrations during May and June. Having participated in its programme annually at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, Amber/Side are now very happy to be collaborating with Transgressive North music and film collective to bring a selection of this year’s films to Newcastle.

The season revolves around a dual theme of Songs and Labour, showcasing the many instances where filmmakers have explored the complex ties between communities, music & labour. Given recent world events, Folk Film Gathering have given particular thought to the ways in which their 2017 programme voices political solidarity with those experiencing new degrees of vulnerability. As such, they have given particular focus to the experience of black communities; communities experiencing the dislocations of emigration and diaspora; women’s perspectives and the work of female directors; communities battling austerity and exploitative labour practices.

Land of Songs, Laulu, The Brave Don’t Cry & Blackbird will be screened at Side Cinema. Matewan & The Scar will be screened at FireSide Cinema. See overleaf for further details.

THURSDAY 18 MAY . 7PM . SIDE CINEMA

Land of Songs (Aldona Watts, 2015, Lithuania/USA, 60mins, PG) In a region of Lithuania known as ‘Land of Songs’, five sprightly elderly women have kept their village’s ancient folk singing tradition alive through decades of war, occupation, and desertion. Aldona Watts’ debut feature is a tender record of the lives of these remarkable women, and an eloquent testament to heritage and the universal language of folk music.

THURSDAY 25 MAY . 7PM . SIDE CINEMA

Laulu (Selma Vilhunen, 2014, Finland, 82mins, 12) Oscar-nominated director Selma Vilhunen’s documentary about the passing on of Finnish oral traditions documents two years in the life of Jussi, the last-surviving Finnish rune singer, and his student Hanneriina, a young woman with a mysterious past. A lyrical rumination on roots and connections full of humour and mystery, Laulu is a moving testament to the healing power of song as a binding force between people and communities.

THURSDAY 01 JUNE . 7PM . SIDE CINEMA

The Brave Don’t Cry (Philip Leacock, 1952, Scotland, 89mins, E) An underappreciated gem of Scottish cinema, The Brave Don’t Cry is a moving story, based on the true life events in Ayrshire of the Knockshinnoch disaster in September 1950. When the walls of the local mine cave in, a dangerous rescue plan is mounted to rescue the 118 men trapped underground. Produced by John Grierson and featuring actors from the Glasgow Citizen’s Theatre, director Philip Leacock brings humour and humanity to a tale of survival, comradeship and community.

Plus Song for Billy (Amber Films, 2017, UK, 17 mins) and Q+A with Amber Team

THURSDAY 08 JUNE . 7PM . SIDE CINEMA

Blackbird (Jamie Chambers, 2013, Scotland, 93mins, 12) Featuring luminaries of the Scottish folk revival Norman Maclean, Sheila Stewart and Margaret Bennett, this lyrical cinematic fable explores the passing of songs from one generation to another. Ruadhan is an angry young man all too aware of changes in his community: there are no more fish in the sea, the ceilidh house is shutting down, and the town is besieged by middle-class incomers, intent on gentrification. Ruadhan stages a one man-stand: can he halt the unstoppable and save the soul of his community?

SIDE GALLERY & THE BARN AT EASINGTON PRESENT

FIRESIDE CINEMA 3 SUMMER EVENINGS OF FILM, FIRE, FOOD & MUSIC CELEBRATING MINING COMMUNITIES

LOCATION: Thorpe lea east farm Easington Colliery, County Durham SR8 3UT FIR

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TIMES: GATES OPEN: 6:30PM EVENTS: 7:00-11:30pm

TICKETS AT SIDE GALLERY + AMBER-ONLINE.COM + PAWS & CLAWS, 92 SEASIDE LANE, EASINGTON, SR8 3LA

10 JUNE: PRIDE . 17 JUNE: MATEWAN . 1 JULY: THE SCAR

PRICING & OPTIONS OPTION 1: THE LOCALS

A SPECIAL CONCESSIONARY RATE FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN THE SR8 POSTCODE AREA.

£7

FOR THOSE OUTSIDE THE AREA WHO WANT TO MAKE THEIR OWN TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS.

TICKET INCLUDES: FILM, HOT SNACK, MUSIC + FREE TRANSPORT FROM & TO THE VILLAGE

OPTION 2: THE TOWNIES

FOR ADVENTUROUS TYNESIDERS WHO WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR RETURN BUS SERVICE.

£20

OPTION 3: THE TRAVELLERS

TICKET INCLUDES: FILM, HOT SNACK, MUSIC + TRANSPORT FROM & TO NEWCASTLE

£12

TICKET INCLUDES: FILM, HOT SNACK, MUSIC

+ CAMPING AVAILABLE TENT PITCHES: £8 PER PERSON

NOTE: ONSITE PARKING & CAMPING IS LIMITED. EMAIL THEBARNATEASINGTON@HOTMAIL.COM TO BOOK THESE SEPARATELY TO YOUR FILM TICKET.

SATURDAY 10 JUNE . 7PM . THE BARN AT EASINGTON

Pride (Matthew Warchus, 2014, UK, 120mins, 15) Winner of the 2014 Queer Palm and the closing film in Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, Matthew Warchus directs this bittersweet comedy based on the true story of how a group of lesbian and gay activists came together in 1984 to support the striking miners. A joyful British comedy, yet amid the film’s slapstick and double entendres, Warchus and script writer Stephen Beresford never lose sight of the socialist camaraderie that is forged between these two seemingly oppositional groups.

+ Easington Colliery Band

SATURDAY 17 JUNE . 7PM . THE BARN AT EASINGTON

Matewan (John Sayles, 1987, USA, 135mins, 15) Perhaps the greatest film ever made about the labour movement, John Sayles’ drama is a poetic and deeply humane treatment of the coal miners’ strike in 1920. Union man Joe Kenehan arrives in the small town of Matewan just as a major dispute kicks off between the Stone Mountain Coal Company and its workers. Can Joe convince the local miners to stand together with the newly-arrived black workers and Italian immigrants, or will the different communities tear each other apart? A profound, moving masterpiece of political cinema, Matewan remains a hugely relevant exploration of solidarity amongst communities under enormous pressure.

+ Easington Silver Uke’s

SATURDAY 1 JULY . 7PM . THE BARN AT EASINGTON

The Scar (Amber Collective, UK, 1997, 114mins, 15) The Scar is a powerful tribute to working class women in the aftermath of the Miners’ Strike. Like many women active during the strike, May has been left to clean up the mess. Struggling with a failed marriage, two unruly children, and the onset of hot flushes, May is just about holding things together when she meets Roy, the new manager of an open cast mine. Roy brings a degree of humour and warmth long missing in May’s life, but is he truly the answer to her problems? (includes Q&A with Amber Collective after the film)

+ Song For Billy

ONSITE RESOURCES Gallery staff and volunteers are on hand to help, whether you want to look at films and photography about your own community, you’re a researcher, you want to follow up on a body of work you might have seen in the gallery or you’re just interested in wandering the highways and byways of our unique collection.

REFERENCE LIBRARY: Containing hundreds of specialist documentary photography and film books, the library is free to use by anyone, but particularly useful to students.

DIGITAL COLLECTION: Our unique, internationally recognised and regionally important film and photographic collection can be freely accessed digitally via 3 onsite computers.

PROJECT SPACE: An exhibition space dedicated to small scale, profesisonal, emerging artist, student and community exhibitions.

SHOP: Stocks a selection of specialist documentary photography books, DVDs, postcard and posters.

PROJECT SPACE EASINGTON During ‘The Coal Coast’ exhibition, the ground floor Project Space will host a film created with children from Easington Colliery Primary School exploring the mining history and culture of the area. Also on display will be photographs taken by adult community members as part of a connected Amber project.

ONLINE WEBSITE: Access us anywhere at WWW.AMBER-ONLINE.COM. It is packed with an ever increasing amount of film & photographic stories from the region and beyond, plus exhibition/events news and much more.

MAILING LIST: Join our free mailing list and receive regular email updates and invitations to special events.

Sign up at: http://eepurl.com/mpEjz SOCIAL MEDIA: We are on Facebook, Twitter (@SideGallery) & Instagram (sidegallery1977)

SUPPORT With support from Arts Council England, Newcastle Culture Investment Fund and Garfield Weston Foundation we have been able to deliver a rich re-opening season at Side Gallery. It is an exciting time at Amber / Side, with staff, volunteers and collaborators busy doing things that might not have seemed possible 5 years ago.

Audiences are growing all the time. There has been a massive expansion in the work with communities, many of whose stories are held in the AmberSide Collection.

YOU CAN HELP TOO! •

Make a donation – as a charity, we’ll also benefit from the tax relief

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Make a regular monthly or annual donation

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Leave a legacy to AmberSide Trust in your will – we’re building long term security for this important collection and work in the North East of England.

TO SUPPORT SIDE PLEASE VISIT: http://www.amber-online.com/support/

FOR EVENTS RESERVATIONS & FURTHER INFO VISIT:

WWW.AMBER-ONLINE.COM T: 0191 232 2208 E: side.gallery@amber-online.com Side is proud to be collaborating with

to bring you this events programme.

Side Gallery is funded by:

SIDE SIDE GALLERY 9 Side Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3JE OPEN: Tuesday - Sunday 11am - 5pm