Gallery Oldham is a unique and bold new landmark building that opened in February 2002. The £9m gallery forms the first phase of a new Cultural Quarter for Oldham. It was designed by architects Pringle Richards Sharratt and has received an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Visions and Voices Explores Childhood Past and Present

Visions and Voices, an atmospheric installation by Lorraine Berry that explores the theme of childhood past and present, opens at Gallery Oldham on 23 September 2006 and is on show until 13 January 2007.

The visitor gets involved in the installation by activating a range of childhoods sounds and images from both past and present.

The exhibition takes inspiration from past childhood experiences charted in Gallery Oldham’s Oral History Collection and uses digitally altered images form both the Gallery ‘s collection and Oldham Local Studies and Archives.

To look at childhood today, Lorraine worked with pupils from Grange and Our Lady’s Schools in Oldham, creating a website where the two schools could share ideas.

Lorraine Berry is keen to work with new materials and new technologies and her installation features apparently blank screen prints with life-sized images that the visitor reveals with a UV scanner.

Voices are triggered when visitors trace words that appear on two interactive screens. When either screen is activated, echoes of the words also appear on the other screen. A third layer of interaction can be triggered by the artist herself via the internet.

Visions and Voices includes a study area where visitors can find out more about the lives of Oldham children past and present. It contains an archive of oral history interviews, along with books and transcripts of the thoughts of children today taken from Lorraine’s website.

People can find out more about the processes used to create this fascinating work at two free talks given by Lorraine Berry on Wednesday 11 October and Saturday 21 October, both at 1pm.

Gallery Oldham is situated in the Cultural Quarter, Greaves Street, Oldham, OL1 1AL. The Gallery is open Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm and admission is free. For more information call 0161 911 4653.

Visions and Voices is supported by Folly www.folly.co.uk.

ENDS

For further information contact:

Helen Russell on 0161 911 4743 or email helen.russell@oldham.gov.uk
Catherine Bradley on 0161 911 4741 or email catherine.bradley@oldham.gov.uk