Arts group aims to turn East Durham village into open air museum

A former mining village is to become an open air museum in a pioneering arts project.
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Arts group East Durham Creates and Durham University intends to connect Blackhall with thousands of years of history in the university’s collection.

The Street Museum project aims to create a walking trail around the village that will include 3D printed replicas of objects held by the university.

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The replicas will be displayed in the windows of houses and businesses as well as the library and community centre – with residents deciding what bit of history to bring to life in their community over the next six months.

Blackhall Community Centre staff and volunteers get into history with their costumesBlackhall Community Centre staff and volunteers get into history with their costumes
Blackhall Community Centre staff and volunteers get into history with their costumes

The project follows on from the Street Gallery which was staged in Dawdon which saw people curate their own exhibition and turn the windows of their homes into art galleries that could be viewed from the street.

Funded by the Museum Association the Blackhall project also involves Blackhall Community Centre.

The project launched with a Hands on History day at Blackhall Community Centre last week.

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Jess Hunt, project lead for East Durham Creates, said: “This is an amazing opportunity for people in East Durham to connect with the amazing collections the university has right on their doorsteps.”

Alison Paterson, manager of Blackhall Community Centre, said: “We’ve worked together with East Durham Creates for many years to develop our centre as a place where culture happens and it’s fantastic to be making this new relationship with Durham University.

"We are definitely going for Blackhall getting the Village of Culture title.”

Ged Matthews, cultural engagement manager for Durham University, said: “We are really committed to doing more in the wider county with communities who might not always have the opportunity to access our fantastic collections or us as a university.”

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"This is just the first of many really innovative projects that we intend to run with communities like Blackhall in the future.”

Durham County Council is bidding for the county to become UK City of Culture 2025 and had made it through to the final eight.

To find out more about the bid and to leave messages of support, go to www.durham2025.co.uk.

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