Friday 13 June / 6pm–9pm / Kitty’s Launderette, 77 Grasmere Street, L5 6RH
RSVP: pauline@openeye.org.uk
We’re celebrating the end of The People of Anfield’s first project.
We invite you to Kitty’s Launderette to join the fun and to celebrate our outdoor exhibition in their ‘courtyard’ space. We will also be launching the first photography exhibition, ‘Kitty’s After Dark’ by Kayleigh Walmsley.
The People of Anfield
Dandelions, clover and willowherb bring flashes of colour on open pockets of land. There’s a spirit in Anfield that resists decline and keeps going, that helps people find ways to work together and celebrate life, the gifts of human nature and the beauty of the world where the flowers still grow.
The People of Anfield is an artistic project engaging local people of all backgrounds and ages to share conversations and ideas about the Anfield area; past, present and future. The project is developed and delivered by photographer Emma Case and writer, Pauline Rowe through photography, writing and discussion.
Kitty’s After Dark
‘Kitty’s After Dark’ by Kayleigh Walmsley explores the quiet, atmospheric charm of Kitty’s laundrette after hours — capturing a moody interplay of space, light, and community in this intimate local hub.
The artist-in-residence programme is part of Culture Liverpool’s Creative Neighbourhoods programme, which aims to address the needs of each community at a neighbourhood level, encouraging local pride, a sense of place, inclusivity, accessibility and empowerment.
Kitty’s – named in honour of Kitty Wilkinson, an Irish immigrant to Liverpool who is credited as the pioneer of the wash house movement in the UK – was at the heart of the People of Anfield project. The community hub hosted regular creative workshops with writer Pauline Rowe and photographer Emma Case, who worked with residents to co-produce the display. The artists and residents also worked closely with a range of other community organisations and spaces including Homebaked CLT, Liverpool Lighthouse, Anfield Improvement District and Pinehurst Primary School.
The project, which is part of Culture Liverpool’s Creative Neighbourhooods programme, included a collection of poems inspired by the creative writing workshops, and a short film ‘Terraces‘, exploring the local built and natural environment, shared through the voices of Anfield.
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Health and Wellbeing, Councillor Harry Doyle, said: “Following the success of The Flowers Still Grow at Open Eye Gallery, which showcased the passion and pride of Anfield residents to visitors and those living and working in the city, the People of Anfield is coming home.
“Kitty’s is so much more than a launderette and dry cleaners. As an accessible social space for people to gather, talk and learn, it embodies the ethos of Creative Neighbourhoods. So it is fitting that it not only hosts the next iteration of People of Anfield but also has its own exhibition, encouraging people to look at the familiar community hub in a different light.”
Sophie Mahon, Head of Social Practice, Open Eye Gallery, said: “Working closely and on a long term basis with communities and partners across Liverpool is integral to the work we do at Open Eye Gallery and the People of Anfield project is a brilliant example of what can happen when communities are given a platform to tell their own stories, in their own way.”
Image: Emma Case
Address:
Kitty’s Launderette
77 Grasmere Street
Liverpool L5 6RH
Open:
6pm–9pm
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