MMU artists going underground

YOU wouldn’t normally take a flashlight to an art exhibition.

But the latest show by Manchester School of Art students and staff has a twist – it takes place in the disused tunnels of Stockport’s air raid shelters.

Blackout opens tomorrow (Wednesday September 24) and features seven works including film, photography and live performance.

The project has been curated by students as part of the professional platforms strand of their MA studies.

Rough and raw

Andrea Zapp, Senior Research Fellow at Manchester School of Art, said: “The venue is so spectacular. We are in the unlit part, the unused tunnels, so it’s really rough and raw which suits the abstract work – although it does mean visitors will have to bring torches! It’s very explorative and investigative.”

The artists exhibiting works are Andrea, Joseph Duffy, Clare Neylon, Iann Ivy, Jana Ligget-Wright, Oskars Lablaiks and Sangar Saleh.

Clare Neylon has created a piece where actors move among the audience “like spirits from former times”, re-enacting scenes from the shelters when they were in use.

Andrea Zapp’s piece is inspired by Picasso’s Guernica, which depicts the first air raid on civilians.

Escape and refuge

Three photographers will show their work at the exhibition.

Iann Ivy, an MA student, has created a work which represents children’s time in the air raid shelters. Jana Liggett-Wright’s work explores the effects that others’ memories have on our perception of a space and Oskars Lablaiks has created a site-specific piece featuring a mock-up of a darkroom.

There will also be work by two filmmakers, Joseph Duffy and Sangar Saleh.

Joseph Duffy’s sculptural encounter uses the landscapes of the tunnels to portray narratives of disaster, escape, refuge or flight, while Sangar’s untitles aural installation explores the one live birth that happened in the tunnels during the Blitz.

Safe haven

The Stockport Air Raid Shelters originally opened in 1939 at the beginning of World War II.

As the largest purpose-built civilian shelter in the country, they provided a safe haven for up to 6,500 people. The shelters were reopened as a museum and visitor centre in 1996.

The shelters can be found at 61 Chestergate, Stockport. The exhibition runs until October 4, and will be open from 1pm to 5pm.

For more information, visit blackoutexhibition.tumblr.com or email blackoutexhibition@gmail.com