New Ghosts to haunt the Hive

New Ghosts to haunt the Hive

Since April, Cartwheel Arts’ Tell Us Another One project has been working with Year 7 students at Falinge Park High School, Rochdale, to create artists’ books on a ghostly theme. Now the students’ artworks are to gain a wider audience, with an exhibition at The Hive Gallery in Rochdale’s Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre during August.

The project, called New Ghosts, took inspiration from local history. Artists Nicky Colclough, Sarah Jay, Lucy May Schofield, Johnny Woodhams and John Lindley visited Rochdale’s local history archive at Touchstones, to find old newspaper stories and photos that could spark the imagination. They used these to inspire students to invent their own imaginary ghost stories; then each student created a handmade book based on their story.

The students used a variety of techniques, from basic bookbinding skills to make beautiful concertina books, to collage and mono-printing to make zines (self-produced magazines that bring together writing and images in a creative way.) Other artworks produced included “altered books” (old books manipulated and cut to form a sculpture) and “story-boxes” (boxes depicting a scene from the story like a miniature stage-set).