Arts project lights up Salford estate

Community creativity celebrated

Fifteen storeys of a Salford tower block were transformed into a multi-coloured light show pulsing in time to music and sound when a special arts project celebrated the creativity of the local community.

Organised by staff and students from the University of Salford, and supported by Salix Homes and The Islington Estate Tenants’ and Residents’ Association (TIETARA), the event saw the grounds of Canon Hussey Court on the Islington Estate transformed into a stage for an evening of music, food and entertainment against the backdrop of a giant projection screen showing art and videos produced by members of the community.

And the Canon Hussey building played a central part in proceedings, with green, amber and red lighting in the stairwell running from the ground floor to the top of the building reacting to the sound from the stage to mimic an audio level indicator, giving a dramatic light array visible from vantage points across Salford and Manchester.

The event was organised by Alasdair Swenson, a technician at the University of Salford’s School of Art & Design, Third Year Visual Arts student Rebecca Kevill and Visual Arts graduate Sean Caherty.

Alasdair explained: “The Islington Community Art Project showcased the fantastic work residents in and surrounding the estate have been producing. We showed a wide range of videos, artwork, photos and interactive animation submitted by local people on the giant projection screen and live performances on stage.”

Rebecca said: “I ran a workshop with children from the estate on the theme of breathing new life into old things, linking in with Salix Homes’ renewal work taking place at Canon Hussey Court and in the Islington community as a whole. They created imaginary creatures using collage materials and this formed the idea for some interactive animation for the projection screen on the 15th using simple puppetry.”

Matt Roberts, head of property services at Salix Homes, said: “We’re just about to start some redevelopment work on these blocks of flats and the event was a great way to mark these changes and showcase the proposed designs on the big screen. Local residents have been heavily involved in the proposals and, with the Islington Estate being so close to the University, we wanted the community to get involved with the work the students are doing as much as possible. This project really brought the community together and made them part of something really special.”