Celebratory Barton Hill community event marks culmination of regeneration work
People in Barton Hill are gearing up for this Saturday’s (12 May) unique celebratory event, orchestrated by the artist Serena Korda, which will mark the culmination of a major regeneration of their community. The Work as Movement Archive (W.A.M.A.) will involve a procession, folk dance, vivid costumes and a choral performance bringing together people from the local community and beyond. A colourful procession will begin in the Urban Park, Barton Hill, at 3pm on Saturday 12 May, and end with a dance and choral performance in the Netham Park.
People in Barton Hill are gearing up for this Saturday’s (12 May) unique celebratory event, orchestrated by the artist Serena Korda, which will mark the culmination of a major regeneration of their community.
The Work as Movement Archive (W.A.M.A.) will involve a procession, folk dance, vivid costumes and a choral performance bringing together people from the local community and beyond.
The celebration has been commissioned by Sovereign Housing Association to celebrate the completion of its regeneration work in Barton Hill, which has seen 151 new affordable homes and four shops built.
A colourful procession will begin in the Urban Park, Barton Hill, at 3pm on Saturday 12 May, and end with a dance and choral performance in the Netham Park.
This artwork is based on a collection of everyday work-related movements. Historically, Barton Hill was home to a variety of industries, including the 19th century Great Western Cotton Mill and Netham Chemical Works.
W.A.M.A. was inspired by Serena’s discovery of ‘meemoing’, a sign language developed by cotton mill workers so they could communicate in the noisy mills, and which is only documented anecdotally.
“Barton Hill is an area with strong working class roots and W.A.M.A. is a celebration of the area’s rich industrial heritage,” Serena Korda explains. “This is an artwork whose elements have been generated by local people, who have ‘donated’ their workplace movements to be incorporated into the dance.”
“Storytelling is at the heart of my work, developed out of encounters, conversations and forgotten histories. I want to capture how people’s lives, movements and actions were influenced by the rise of machinery during the industrial revolution and since, and convey that through an invented dance,” Serena adds.
Although these donated movements are intended for a one-off live dance performance, W.A.M.A. will form part of a permanent video archive in Bristol’s MShed museum.
The £50 million regeneration of Barton Hill began in 2000 and Sovereign was selected, along with Solon South West Housing Association, to deliver the housing element of the plan.
“This is going to be a real extravaganza, and a fitting celebration of what has been achieved in Barton Hill,” said Terry Black, Sovereign’s Neighbourhood Investment Coordinator. “Residents of Barton Hill have played a central role in influencing the design of their new surroundings, and I’m overjoyed that their involvement is absolutely integral to this artwork.
“I can’t wait to see members of the community coming together to take part in this celebration of the transformation of their neighbourhood.”