Touchstones Rochdale

Exhibitions Archive Touchstones Rochdale offers a wide variety of exhibitions in the Heritage Gallery and the Art Gallery's four gallery spaces including those from the local community, selections from the borough's impressive art collection and work by contemporary artists. Ours 28 May - 27 August 2016 Gallery One Cartwheel Arts deliver creative user- led support projects and courses across Greater Manchester. ‘Ours’ celebrates the work of the Rochdale Borough, user-led groups Art & Soul, Dandelion and Animation at RBUF. Animation, woodwork, paintings, paperwork and sculptural pieces explore what is important to the participants, over a number of themed projects.

Jerwood Makers Open

Saturday 25 March - Saturday 11 June 2016 Gallery Four Five exciting new talents in contemporary applied arts will première works in a group exhibition to mark the fifth edition of Jerwood Makers Open. Zachary Eastwood-Bloom,

Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, Jasleen Kaur, Ian McIntyre and Silo Studios all received awards to realise significant new projects. Jerwood Makers Open promotes the significance of making and materials within the visual arts arena, seeking to support exceptional skill and imagination. It looks broadly at how contemporary artists are defining or

1 of 34 touchstones-rochdale-exhibitions-archive challenging the boundaries of what has traditionally been described as applied arts.

Hannah Leighton-Boyce: Instruments of Industry

25 March - 11 June 2016 Gallery Three As a recipient of a New Opportunities Award, artist Hannah Leighton-Boyce has developed a sound based work in response to the Museums' collection of historic hand-tools.

'Instruments of Industry' explores the resonance of these 'disembodied' tools within their elevation to museum objects. The New Opportunities Award was developed in 2014 by New Expressions and Contemporary Visual Arts Network, working in partnership with Visual Arts South West. It aims to create innovative partnerships for organisations in the heritage sector as well as new ways of working for artists. This project is part of a larger group of exhibitions funded by New Expressions. Visit hannahleightonboyce.com for further information. You can also find Hannah on Twitter at @HannahL_B

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Barry Cook: A Time to Dance Saturday 13 February - Saturday 21 May 2106 Working in watercolour, ink and gauche, Barry Cook’s exhibition of paintings will celebrate thirty one years of teaching in Rochdale primary schools. His vibrant and contemporary paintings are inspired by nature, folklore and music. Homespun Traditions Gallery Two Until Saturday 5 March 2016 Showcasing works from the borough's art collection, this exhibition looks at how traditional crafts and domestic life has been represented in art. Exploring the themes of craftsmanship and the homemade, modern craft pieces are shown alongside intriguing objects from the museum collections and a range of historic artworks that depict our fine cottage industries. Surprising and diverse examples of local and British craft in art is illustrated among others by Frederick William Jackson, printer and engraver John O'Connor, Edward Stott and eminent folk artist Tim Bobbin.

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Creative Community Hub Saturday 21 November 2015 - Saturday 6 February 2016 Ex-service personnel and their family members celebrate a diverse range of artistic talent by showcasing artwork produced in conjunction with the charity Veterans In Communities

Natural Makers Saturday 12 December 2015 - Saturday 27 February 2016 Celebrating the artwork of four artists working with natural materials, and through doing so exploring the natural environments which inspire their practice. Laura Ellen Bacon, Adam Buick, Sharon Adams and Stuart Cairns’ work comes together in an exhibition that looks at the beauty of natural materials, shapes and forms, and an immersion in the sensory experience of making.

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Robert Walker: The Fifth Continent Saturday 12 December 2015 - Saturday 27 February 2016 Rochdale based photographer Robert Walker will be showing his latest project. The Fifth Continent, which documents the area around Dungeness in Kent. It is a site of special scientific interest, has two nuclear power stations and is Britain’s only desert. “It is a brooding and unsettled landscape with a handful of hardy inhabitants and a unique melancholic attraction”.

Hannah Leighton-Boyce 25 March - 11 June 2016

Working with the Museums’ collection at Touchstones Rochdale, Hannah Leighton-Boyce is developing a new piece of work in response to the historic hand-tool collection. This project is part of a larger group of exhibitions funded by New Expressions. Visit hannahleightonboyce.com for further information. You can also find Hannah on Twitter at @HannahL_B

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Jerwood Makers Open Saturday 25 March - Saturday 11 June 2016 Five exciting new talents in contemporary applied arts will première works in a group exhibition to mark the fifth edition of Jerwood Makers Open, Zachary Eastwood-Bloom, Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, Jasleen Kaur, Ian McIntyre and Silo Studio. Jerwood Makers Open promotes the significance of making and materials within the visual arts arena, seeking to support exceptional skill and imagination.

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Exhibitions 2015 Exhibitions archive for 2015.

Talking Heads Heritage Gallery 24 May 2014 – 18 April 2015 Portraits are brought to life in this exhibition as personal objects are explored and stories are told. Talking Heads celebrates some of the people of Rochdale who have given to the borough. Meet the Heape family who helped to create Rochdale's Art Gallery and Museum. Discover remarkable individuals – from innovator Thomas Watson to film star Gracie Fields. Family fortunes have built hospitals, churches, schools, libraries and museums in Rochdale borough. Learn about how local industrialists created some of the landmarks and why they donated their collections to the public.

The exhibition includes hands-on activities for younger visitors.

Four Seasons in One Day Gallery Two 22 March 2014 – 7 March 2015 This exhibition from the borough's art collection explores the four seasons through a range of historic and contemporary works of art. Springtime blossom, summer sunshine, autumn leaves and winter snows are all captured in work from a range of artists including Adrian Berg, Joseph Farquharson, Fred Jackson and Edward Stott.

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Close Contact Gallery Three 4 July - 5 September 2015 Artists often use traditional skills, materials, tools and techniques to make their work, but the finished pieces are very contemporary. Close Contact will feature contemporary craft objects from the Art Gallery collection including work by Halima Cassell, Junko Mori and Derek Wilson.

Daksha Patel: Bodytopos 13 December 2014 – 7 March 2015 Bodytopos is an exhibition of drawings and prints by Daksha Patel exploring themes surrounding mapping, measurement and the human body. Her drawings are often made with unusual materials, such as fat, clay and natural pigments. Daksha is particularly interested in how scientific systems visualize the human body, and the exhibition includes new work made in response to body scanning technologies. Daksha is a Manchester based artist and a researcher at Northumbria University. Her work was featured in the Wellcome Trust exhibition 'Brains: The Mind as Matter' (2013) and she has undertaken residencies at The Christie hospital, Manchester, and in the neuroscience laboratories, Kings College London. For further information visit www.dakshapatel.co.uk .

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Claire Barclay: Over Workings

Gallery Four 28 March - 13 June 2015

In 2012 Touchstones Rochdale acquired the sculpture Perching by Claire Barclay, presented Contemporary Art Society with support from the Art Fund which provided a starting point for the exhibition. Barclay has since created an extensive new body of work in both sculpture and printmaking especially for the exhibition, taking inspiration from objects and themes in the museum collections.

For further information about Claire visit Stephen Friedman Gallerywebsite. Presented in association with Stephen

Friedman Gallery.

Rana Begum Gallery Three 28 March – 13 June 2015 London-based artist Rana Begum creates work which bridges the gap between sculpture and painting. Drawing inspiration from Islamic art and architecture, these sculptural works are constructed through a series of folds. The resulting work is a playful balance between form, colour and light. This will be Rana's first solo show in a public gallery.

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A Common Ground: Ikuko Iwamoto, Junko Mori and Kayo Saito 13 December 2014 – 7 March 2015 A Common Ground brings together the work of three UK-based, Japanese- born artists for the first time who have a shared interest in the natural world as a source of inspiration for their work. Ikuko Iwamoto makes tableware and sculptural ceramics based on the repetitive patterns such as those seen through a microscope. Junko Mori's metalwork consists of multiples of individually forged steel, with her observations of tree and plant matter the driving force behind her sculptures. Kayo Saito's jewellery is influenced by plants and organic forms, whose apparent fragility, structure and vital energy stimulate her creativity. Junko Mori: Artist's Talk Saturday 21 February 2pm - 3pm Join Junko Mori to hear more about her work, including her inspiration and making processes. Free, but pre- booking is required by phoning us on 01706 924492. Image courtesy of Junko Mori and Adrian Sassoon.

People's Art 2015 Gallery Three and Four Saturday 26 September - Saturday 21 November 2015 The popular annual open exhibition for new and established artists, both amateur and professional, who live or work in the borough of Rochdale returns. Once again, this year, the huge array of talent on display has filled two full galleries with examples of paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, 10 of 34 touchstones-rochdale-exhibitions-archive

animation and craft objects.

Feathered Gallery Four 4 July - 5 September 2015 An exhibition of paintings and photography which explore birds as a theme in contemporary art by artists such as Sutapa Biswas, Leila Jeffreys, Neeta Madahar and Luke Stephenson. The exhibition will include hands-on activities for families.

Hannah Leighton-Boyce: Instruments of Industry Touchstones Rochdale and artist Hannah Leighton-Boyce are working together on a New Opportunities Award project as part of New Expressions 3. New Expressions 3 establishes a national approach to collaboration between contemporary artists and museums.

Hannah is researching hand tools from our museum collection once used in traditional crafts and trades which are stored at the Arts & Heritage Resource Centre. She hopes to hear the stories of the tools and those who once worked with them in the process of making new work in response to them.

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Unlocking the creative potential of museums: a national pathfinder project. Visit newexpressions.org Glennis Brierley: Celebrating A Creative Life 21 February – 30 May 2015 Local artist Glennis Brierley died tragically in December 2013. This exhibition celebrates the richness and diversity of her artistic talents through paintings, drawings, embroideries and mixed media work representing a lifetime of creativity.

Garry Holt: Good to Feel the Breeze of Fear Gallery One 6 June - 29 August 2015 Garry Holt started making collages during a time of ill health and has been making them prolifically ever since.

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Revealing the River Roch Gallery One Saturday 5 September - Saturday 14 November 2015 Part of Rochdale Council's wider project to uncover the River Roch, this exhibition includes related artworks and objects from the borough's collections together with paintings by students from Hopwood Hall College.

Exhibitions 2014 Exhibitions archive for 2014

Stephen Pinnell: Waiting for the Miracle 15 November 2014 – 14 February 2015 Paintings by local artist Stephen Pinnell.

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Jilly Edwards: Wanderlust 26 September – 22 November 2014 Jilly Edwards is one of the UK's leading tapestry weavers. Over the course of her 40 year career, she has exhibited internationally and has tapestries in collections in the UK, USA and Japan. The tapestries in this exhibition explore Edwards' journeys through different landscapes, including new works in a vivid yellow colour palette, a new departure for Edwards. She takes inspiration from her travels whether around the world or to her favourite beach, hillside or just a walk to the corner shop and her response to the feelings and memories these places evoke is translated into the final tapestry. See press release: Jill Edwards: Wanderlust

Rosa Nguyen: Sanctuary 26 September – 22 November 2014 Touchstones Rochdale is an Asia Triennial Manchester 2014 Partner and will be showing a new installation by Rosa Nguyen incorporating ceramics, glass and natural material to link with the festival theme of conflict and compassion. www.asiatriennialmanchester.com See press release 'See with new eyes' as latest exhibition 'Sanctuary' brings the art of Asia to Touchstones Rochdale Rosa Nguyen reveals the inspiration behind her new contemplative installation Sanctuary for Asia Triennial Manchester at Touchstones Rochdale

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Natalie Giannikitzakis: Act Naturally Gallery One – The Community Gallery 30 August – 8 November 2014 Recent Fine Art graduate Natalie Giannikitzakis explores the subtleties of body language through highly detailed pencil drawings. Image: Natalie Giannikitzakis: Shy

People's Art 2014 Gallery Three & Four 5 July – 6 September 2014 The popular annual open exhibition for new and established artists, both amateur and professional, who live or work in the borough of Rochdale return, this time over the summer.

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Art Makes Children Powerful Gallery One – The Community Gallery 7 June – 23 August 2014 Key Stage 2 children from Broadfield Community Primary School show off their talents across a range of different media.

Bureau: In Conversation Gallery Four 5 April – 14 June 2014 In Conversation is an exhibition of new and previously unseen works in drawing, film, print, and painting, by both invited artists and artists represented by Bureau.

The selected artworks, although diverse in approach and influence, come together 'in conversation' to create a dialogue about abstraction, materiality, process and production. Through shared aesthetic considerations and meditative qualities, these contemplative and elegant works can be seen to possess a particular 'language'. Jacob Cartwright • Daniel Fogarty • Mary Griffiths • Mark Kennard • Tim Machin • Assunta Ruocco • Evangelia Spiliopoulou Curated by Sophia Crilly, Bureau. Visit www.bureaugallery.com. Image: © Jacob Cartwright, No Passage Landward, 2014, still. Courtesy of the artist and Bureau.

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Yan Preston: He - River Together Gallery Three 5 April – 14 June 2014 Chinese born, Yorkshire based artist Yan Preston presents film and photography of performative works made in China from her ongoing project exploring the Yangtze River, the country's most iconic waterway. The works re-enact her efforts to be 'one' with the Yangtze, known to Chinese people as the 'Mother River'.

Visit www.yanpreston.com Image: © Yan Preston, Yuan – The Source

Bloom Heritage Gallery 16 February 2013 - 12 April 2014 The beauty of flowers has inspired centuries of art and design. This exhibition celebrates the significance of flowers and how floral motifs feature in our Museum and Art Gallery collections. Learn how local botanical societies collected and stored specimens, explore the wonderful language of flowers, be amazed by the varied museum objects on display and look out for a special knitted installation at the front of the Touchstones Rochdale building and in Broadfield Park. This exhibition includes hands-on activities to inspire our younger visitors.

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Landscapes of the Mind Touchstones Rochdale - Gallery One – The Community Gallery 1 March – 31 May 2014 Art & Soul are an art and support group for independent adults in the Rochdale Borough, who have experienced mental health issues. The group are supported by Cartwheel Arts. For this exhibition, Art & Soul have been exploring connections between landscape and emotion, creativity and wellbeing.

Exhibitions 2013 Exhibitions archive for 2013

Sea Gallery Two 23 March 2013 - 8 March 2014 This exhibition from the borough's art collection explores the theme of the sea in all its aspects – the seaside, coastline, ports, shipping and sailing. Combining historic and contemporary work, artists include Dorothea Sharp, Terrick Williams, Frank Brangwyn and Junko Mori. The exhibition will include hands-on activities for our younger visitors including under 5s.

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Lynn Setterington: Please Sign Here Heritage Gallery Gallery Three 14 December 2013 – 8 March 2014 This exhibition takes its starting point from a fascinating historic quilt in our museum collection. The quilt records the sewn names of over two hundred Rochdale citizens in 1895. Textile artist Lynn Setterington has been working with local people to create a contemporary signature quilt representing Rochdale borough today. Both quilts will be exhibited alongside some of Setterington's other quilt projects. The exhibition includes research into the historic quilt by Dr Alison Slater. Visit www.lynnsetterington.co.uk

Jill Randall: Place / Displace Gallery Four 14 December 2013 – 8 March 2014 Jill Randall's work is firmly rooted in contemporary sculpture practice, making and materiality. Conceptually driven, her work exploits the qualities and associations of materials and often involves the recycling of materials invested with history and narrative through their past use. Place/Displace explores the importance of context in how we think about place and when removed from its original context, we are forced to examine it anew. Incorporating sculpture, prints, video and drawings, with commissioned new work specific to and in response to Rochdale and the north-west, enabling the viewer to scrutinise familiar places and buildings in a new way. www.jillrandall.co.uk

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I Say It As I See It Gallery One - the community gallery 23 November 2013 – 22 February 2014 This exhibition is a celebration and culmination of Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival 2013, initiated by Rochdale Borough Libraries, The Co- operative Members' Group of Rochdale and their partners within the community and surrounding townships. It will showcase the highly commended entries and winners of a digital photography and poetry competition.

People's Art 2013 Gallery Three & Four 28 September - 23 November 2013 The popular annual open exhibition for new and established artists, both amateur and professional, who live or work in the borough of Rochdale returns this autumn. Handing-in dates if you would like to take part: 10-14 September during usual opening hours 10am-5pm at Touchstones Rochdale.

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Shutterbugging in Suburbia Gallery One 31 August - 16 November 2013 Celebrating the fact that it is never too late to master a new skill, eight photographers from Hopwood Hall College's Improvers' Digital Photography Community Learning Group present their work. Shutterbugging in Suburbia highlights the fact that it is never too late to learn a new skill or to become passionate about that skill. Never too late to stop, appreciate, capture and record through the medium of photography the wonderful diversity of the world around us. Read more about Shutterbugging in Suburbia in our News section.

From Paper To Page: The Illustrations of Alice Melvin and Catherine Rayner Gallery Three 6 July – 7 September 2013 Follow Sally’s journey down the high street, count some birds, find out about Sylvia and Bird’s adventures and encounter Augustus and his smile! Alice Melvin and Catherine Rayner write and illustrate children’s picture books. Come along and meet their characters in this family friendly exhibition.

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David Hancock: Cosplay Gallery Four 6 July – 7 September 2013 David Hancock makes paintings which explore the youth subculture of Cosplay. Cosplayers dress up and role- play characters from Manga, Anime or computer games and take on their identity in the real world. Hancock captures Cosplayers from around the UK, particularly the North West in often large-scale, photorealistic watercolour paintings.

Revolution of Mind Gallery One 15 June – 24 August 2013 Mental health service users resident on a new low secure unit at Birch Hill Hospital create thought provoking artwork that explores life experiences whilst challenging some of the misconceptions about mental ill health. The message is simple: we are human beings, not a label or a diagnosis.

Penny Leaver Green: Unintended Consequences Gallery Three 29 March – 15 June 2013 Penny Leaver Green makes sewn pictures from fabric and thread, often incorporating found objects. This exhibition features two new bodies of work exploring both invasive plant species and the (now illegal) collection of birds' eggs; each presenting us with the unintended consequences of a Victorian obsession with collection and display.

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Natasha Daintry: Fluid Colour To book please contact Mark Doyle: [email protected] / 07891 880 29 March – 15 June 2013 498. Natasha Daintry is a contemporary www.natashadaintry.com ceramicist working in porcelain from her studio in London. Her work focuses on vessel forms and is concerned with colour and materiality. We have recently acquired a major piece of Natasha's work, Ocean. For this exhibition, Natasha will present a new group of vessels alongside Ocean and another work, Small Ocean. Ocean has been jointly acquired with Gallery Oldham; Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston; Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, Carlisle and Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery through the Contemporary Art Society's acquisition scheme with support from the Art Fund. Meet Natasha Daintry Ceramicist Natasha Daintry will give a free talk about her work in relation to her exhibition Fluid Colour. Saturday 6 April 2013 2pm-4pm Organised by the Contemporary Art Society. Compulsive: ATIC Studios Gallery One, the Community Gallery Now extended until 8 June 2013 Photographer Ian Clegg and sculptor Angela Tait are artists who have been collaborating on creative projects since 2010. The practice addresses their individual obsessions and collections which are explored through the combined mediums of ceramics, sculpture and experimental photography. ATIC Studios' exhibition has been extended due to unforeseen circumstances meaning the exhibition

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'My Best Shot' has had to be postponed.

Fiona Curran: Waiting For The Perfect View Gallery Three Showing until 9 March 2013

Fiona Curran’s paintings and assemblages of found and made objects present real and imagined landscapes where the boundaries between the natural and the artificial are blurred. This exhibition will feature a number of new works that re-present images of scenic views dating from the 1960s, transforming them through the use of different fabrication processes including print, collage and tapestry.

Matthew Houlding: More Places To Get Away From It All Gallery Four Showing until 9 March 2013

Matthew Houlding’s sculptures draw us into a fantastic, retro-futuristic world where bespoke and meticulously built environments celebrate Modernist architecture and the pursuit of utopian ideals. The exhibition features two significant bodies of work. Sons of Pioneers (2009) and The Chemosphere (2010). Houlding has exhibited widely in Britain and Europe and is represented by Ceri Hand Gallery.

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Echoes of the Edwardian Era Gallery Two Showing until 9 March 2013 Following on from the Gallery’s successful Victorian Stories exhibition in 2010, this is a chance to see Edwardian paintings from the Art Gallery collection alongside costume, objects and ephemera of the time from the Museum and Local Studies. The exhibition celebrates a vibrant era for Rochdale Art Gallery where many

local philanthropists donated artwork to the town’s newly built and expanding Gallery. It provides a commentary on social issues of the time, including the development of modern childhood and local women involved in the suffragette movement.

Landscape and Light: Martin Jenkins Gallery One, the Community Gallery Showing until 19 January 2013 Martin Jenkins uses photography, video and sculpture to express his thoughtful observations of urban and rural landscapes. The unusual structures of his corrugated cardboard

sculptures invite the viewer’s participation through touch and sight. The exhibition represents his ‘journey’ as an artist from 1990s Rochdale College evening classes to a Bradford School of Art MA.

Exhibitions 2012 In 2012 we celebrated the International Year of Co-operatives 2012 and London 2012 for which our exciting programme of Art Gallery

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Exhibitions 'Contemporary 2012' was awarded the Inspire Mark and included in the Cultural Olympiad for the North West of England by London 2012.

Layers of Landscape Gallery Two 26 March 2011 – 10 March 2012 This exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale brings together a selection of works from the Rochdale borough Art Gallery's permanent collection to explore how artists capture different elements of landscape, from Arctic wilderness to British coastline and landscaped parks and gardens to farms and moorland. In doing so the exhibition combines historic and contemporary works, many of which have not been on display recently, to look at the ongoing importance of landscape in artists' practice and to enable visitors to compare different approaches to this subject matter.

Cloud Nylon: The Jewellery of Nora Fok 17 December 2011 – 10 March 2012 Gallery Four Nora Fok is one of Britain's leading contemporary jewellers, who works with quite ordinary materials to create extraordinary results. The processes Nora uses – knitting, weaving, crocheting and knotting – transform linear nylon microfilament into simple and complex structures, inspired by her fascination with the natural world and the mathematical models that underpin it.

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Much of her work can be classified as jewellery, but she pushes the definition to its limits making larger bodywear and pieces which stand independently as sculpture. A Harley Gallery touring exhibition directed by Brochocka Baynes and supported by the Arts Council. Touchstones Rochdale is the only North West venue for the exhibition.

Paul Haywood & Maxine Kennedy: Colouredge Gallery Three 31 March – 16 June 2012 Colouredge is the title of a public art commission celebrating the 10th anniversary of Littleborough Arts Festival. Artists Maxine Kennedy and Paul Haywood are designing a bespoke selection of colours that will represent the Pennine edge. Maxine and Paul have become fascinated by environments and horizons that evidence the identity of a location through traces of colour that have been weathered by natural processes and human interactions and influenced by ambient conditions. They have recorded a range of colours; capturing the richly diverse and intense hues of both urban and rural landscapes.

Gordon Cheung: Techno Sublime Gallery Four 31 March – 16 June 2012

Gordon Cheung's mixed-media paintings depict epic, dream-like 27 of 34 touchstones-rochdale-exhibitions-archive landscapes where the natural world collides with the structures of globalisation. Through his use of collaged Financial Times stock listings as the base for each painting, Cheung's work raises questions about contemporary society, such as the impact of technology and whether a utopian vision of the future can still exist. Gordon Cheung was born in London in 1975. He studied painting at Central St Martins College of Art and the Royal College of Art from where he graduated in 2001. The exhibition is drawn from the Imogen and Elspeth Turner Collection.

Seven Sisters: Catherine Corlett & Zachary Ingham 17 December 2011 - 10 March 2012 Filmed in sequence, Seven Sisters captures the urban and rural landscape of Rochdale borough, creating an artwork that shifts between abstraction and representation. Within the installation the viewer sees familiar sights become depersonalised as the artwork veers between almost still images to sweeping aspects. The artwork deliberately disorientates the viewer and blurs the reality of the landscape. Occasionally the films innocently capture the other towers as if to remind the viewer exactly where they are.

Forest: Darnhill Festival Association and Cartwheel Arts 26 November 2011 - 28 January 2012

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A celebration of the Forest Festival held in Darnhill in summer 2011 to mark the UN Festival of Forests. The Forest Festival explored the connections between contemporary sculpture, natural materials and traditional crafting skills, through an inclusive community event. This exhibition features community artwork, photography and representations of the Forest theme, created through collaborations between contemporary artists, heritage craftspeople and the Darnhill community.

Spring Bank Mill Collective 4 February - 14 April 2012

Artists Lewis Brownlie and Jonny Boxall curated a group show 'Child's Play' at Spring Bank Mill in Whitworth in 2011 and now bring work by this informal collective of aspiring young artists to Touchstones Rochdale. Artists include: Matthew Shaw Sam McLoughlin Sam Ingham Lewis Brownlie Luke Saxon Jonny Boxall Mel Tse Garry Giomarelli Jonathan Hughes Jack Whiteside

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The Rochdale and Smocking Branches of the Embroiderers' Guild: Don't Lose The Thread Don't Lose The Thread 21 April – 9 June 2012 This exhibition is a showcase for the Rochdale and Smocking Branches of the Embroiderers' Guild showing a large collection of artworks produced with needle and thread. We think that we are ordinary people doing extraordinary work, but what do you think?

Art & Soul: The Painted Note – Art Inspired By Music 16 June – 25 August

The Painted Note is an exhibition that uses a variety of forms to explore the many ways in which art can be inspired by music. Created by Art & Soul, an art and support group for adults within Rochdale borough who have experienced mental health issues. The project is funded by Awards for All and supported by Cartwheel Arts.

People’s Art 2012 Until 24 November 2012 The popular annual open exhibition for new and established artists, both amateur and professional, who live or work in the borough of Rochdale. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to vote for their favourite artwork in the 'People's Choice' award. The artist with the most votes at the end of the exhibition will be awarded a selection of art materials. There will be a whole host of hands-on 30 of 34 touchstones-rochdale-exhibitions-archive activities for younger visitors in the Art Paddock, full of creative activities based around colour, shape and pattern for budding artists of the future.

Rochdale Up Close & Abstract: Adam Kerfoot-Roberts Until 10 November 2012 Local photographer Adam Kerfoot- Roberts has developed a series of abstracts based on architectural details of buildings around Rochdale which are showcased in this exhibition. Rochdale's streetscape is changing as much now as at any time in its history. In this, debut exhibition, Adam highlight's the colours, textures and patterns that we can see in buildings and structures all around us.

The Rochdale Pioneers Heritage Gallery Until 29 December 2012 This exhibition tells the story of the origins of the Co-operative Movement and how it started right here in Rochdale focusing on the lives of the local men who went on to become the Rochdale Pioneers. This exhibition celebrates 2012 as the Year of the Co- operatives. The United Nations has declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives and Rochdale was recently declared World Capital of Co- operatives. Link4Life are working alongside Rochdale Council to deliver a programme of events to celebrate the 31 of 34 touchstones-rochdale-exhibitions-archive

2012 International Year of Co- operatives.

Past Exhibitions 2011

Past Art Gallery Exhibitions Making Marks: Prints and Drawings from the Art Gallery Collection 16 October 2010 - 13 March 2011 Rachael Elwell: The Capacity of Line 18 December 2010 - 13 March 2011 Liam Spencer: Painting From Life 18 December 2010 - 13 March 2011 Light, Passion & Darkness 2 April - 25 June 2011 EARTH | ATMOSPHERE 9 July - 10 September 2011 Still Life 9 July - 10 September 2011 People's Art 2011 2011 1 October - 26 November 2011 Layers of Landscape 26 March 2011 - 10 March 2012 Cloud Nylon: The Jewellery of Nora Fok 17 December 2011 - March 2012

Past Gallery One Exhibitions 100 Years of Girl Guiding in Rochdale in Rochdale 6 November 2010 - 9 January 2011 Charlotte Howard: English Rose 15 January - 6 March 2011 Steam Up North: Railways in the North West of England - Paintings by Tom Holland 12 March - 30 April 2011 Medie Mulindwa: Silent Music: Silent Music 7 May - 9 July 2011 Different Threads: Imagengine 16 July - 10 September 2011 Lucy McChrystal Plimmer and Harriet Whittaker 17 September - 19 November 2011 Forest: Darnhill Festival Association and Cartwheel Arts 26 November 2011 - 28 January 2012

Past Exhibitions 2010

Past Art Gallery Exhibitions At The Edge: British Art 1950-2000 26 September - 3 January 2010 Jack Crabtree: Overt Street 30 January - 18 April 2010 The Creatures Show 30 January - 18 April 2010 Eighties, Nineties & Noughties Contemporary Works from the Art Gallery Collection 1 May- 4 July 2010 Knit One Purl One Contemporary Knitting and Crochet 1 May - 4 July 2010 Victorian Stories 16 January - 3 October 2010 The Shape of Things 17 July - 3 October 2010 Making Marks: Prints and Drawings from the Art Gallery Collection 16 October 2010 - 13 March 2011 People's Art 2010 23 October - 5 December 2010 Rachael Elwell: The Capacity of Line 18 December 2010 - 13 March 2011 Liam Spencer: Painting From Life 18 December 2010 - 13 March 2011

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Past Gallery One Exhibitions

Our World by Steve Garside until 201 March 2010 Real or Imagined: Su and Robert Hudson 15 May - 27 June 2010 Neil Ashton: Rochdale Landscapes 3 July - 30 August 2010 100 Years of Girl Guiding in Rochdale 26 November 2010 - 9 January 2011 Past Heritage Gallery Exhibitions History,Mystery and Myth 16 November 2009-10 October 2

Past Exhibitions 2009

Past Art Gallery Exhibitions Vincent James: Suspended Animation 6 December 2008 - 1 March 2009 Zarah Hussain: The Beauty of Abstraction 6 December 2008 - 1 March 2009 Every Picture Tells a Story: Paintings by Helen Bradley 21 March - 14 June 2009 Instant 21 March -14 June 2009 En Plein Air 14 March - 6 September 2009 Knitted Nature: ArtYarn (part of UK DIY) 6 June - 6 September 2009 People's Art 2009 4 July - 6 September 2009

Past Gallery One Exhibitions Sufic Codes: Asgar Khan 7 February - 29 March 2009 Life Cycle: 4 April - 17 May 2009 Across the Channel: Harald Schuppe 23 May - 14 June 2009 Height of the Moon: Alice Ingham RC Primary School 20 June - 9 August 2009 Well, Well, Well: Cartwheel Arts 15 August - 4 October 2009 People of Lancashire and Their Angels (A Personal Journey): Thomas Lancaster Powell 10 October - 29 November 2009 Past Heritage Gallery Exhibitions History,Mystery and Myth 16 November 2009 - 10 October 2010

Past Exhibitions 2008 Past Art Gallery Exhibitions Return of the Rochdale Sculptors - 2 February - 11 May 2008 Time and Time Again - Lesley Halliwell - 2 February - 11 May 2008 A New Spirit in Printmaking - 24 May - 7 September 2008 Street: a New Exhibition Exploring Urban Art 24 May - 7 September 2008 Continental Collecting 13 September 2008 - 1 March 2009 People's Art 2008 27 September - 2 November 2008 Vincent James: Suspended Animation - 6 December 2008 - 1 March 2009 Zarah Hussain: The Beauty of Abstraction - 6 December 2008 1 March 2009

Past Art Gallery Exhibitions Means of Escape 22 December 2007 - 17 February 2008 Still Crazy After These Years 12 April - 25 May 2008

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How to See 31 May - 13 July 2008 Sparth Then and Now 6 September - 19 October 2008

Past Exhibitions 2007 Past Art Gallery Exhibitions Linking Threads: Textile Industrialists & the Art 7 July - 16 September 2007 Eye of the Needle 14 July - 16 September 2007 Millscapes 31 March - 24 June 2007 Everything Equally 31 March - 24 June 2007 The Art of Communication 23 September 2006 - 11 March 2007 Lucy Over Lancashire 15 December 2006 - 11 March 2007 People's Art 2007 6 October - 2 December 2007 Read Between the Lines 15 December 2006 - 11 March 2007 The Best of Contemporary British Illustration 15 December 2006 - 11 March 2007 Made in the 70s 15 December - 7 September 2008

Past Gallery One Exhibitions The Continuity of Closure 13 January - 1 April 2007 Rochdale AFC Centenary 14 April - 10 June 2007 Hidden Heritage 16 June - 5 August 2007 Night and Day 11 August - 23 September 2007 Means of Escape 22 December 2007 - 17 February 2008

Past Heritage Gallery Exhibitions 150 years of the Rochdale Observer 25 November 2006 - 13 April 2007 The Fight to End Slavery: A Local Story 17 May - 9 September 2007 Past Local Studies Exhibitions Observing the Times 25 November 2006 - 13 April 2007 Every Picture Tells a Story- or does it? 13 November 2006 - 13 April 2007

34 of 34 touchstones-rochdale-exhibitions-archive