AMBER
EXHIBITION
150 original photographs and film clips, that capture over 40 years of cultural, political and economic shifts in North East England.
Cover image: Girl on a spacehopper, Byker, 1974 by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen Image above: WH Douglas, gents’ hairdresser, Raby Street, Byker, 1974 by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen.
27 JUNE - 19 SEPTEMBER 2015 Laing Art Gallery New Bridge Street Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8AG FREE Opening hours: Tues-Sat (10am-5pm) Sun (2pm-5pm)
FILM SCREENINGS Sunday 12 July | 3pm SEACOAL + GLASSWORKS
Sunday 23 August | 3pm LIKE FATHER + HIGH ROW
(1985, 83 mins & 1977, 20 mins)
(2001, 95 mins & 1973, 33 mins)
Amber’s first feature drama, made with the seacoaling community at Lynemouth, Northumberland + GLASSWORKS a documentary about industrial glassblowing at Lemington.
Feature drama exploring men’s lives in East Durham in the aftermath of pit closure + HIGH ROW documenting a small drift mine above the South Tyne Valley.
Wednesday 15 July | 5.45pm IN FADING LIGHT + LAUNCH
Wednesday 26 August | 5.45pm THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS + MAYBE
(1989, 103 mins & 1973, 10 mins,)
(2008, 90 mins & 1969, 10 mins)
Feature drama about the North Shields fishing industry + LAUNCH documenting the launch of World Unicorn at Wallsend.
A documentary about Amber founder Murray Martin, who died in 2007 + MAYBE, Murray Martin’s student film which became Amber’s first work.
Sunday 26 July | 3pm DREAM ON
Sunday 27 September| 3pm BYKER + TODAY I’M WITH YOU
(1991, 115 mins)
(1983, 53 mins & 2010, 54 mins)
Magical realist feature drama exploring the lives of a women’s darts team on North Shields’ Meadow Well Estate.
A celebration of a working class community of terraced streets on the edge of destruction based around Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen’s photographs + TODAY I’M WITH YOU, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen’s return to Byker Wall Estate to create a portrait of its new communities.
Wednesday 29 July | 5.45pm EDEN VALLEY (1995, 95 mins)
Feature drama made with the harness racing (trotting) community in County Durham
Wednesday 30 September | 5.45pm FROM US TO ME (2015, 85 mins, 5.45pm)
Wednesday 5 August | 5.45pm THE WRITING IN THE SAND
Amber’s return to the former East German fishing and shipbuilding town of Rostock, which, in 1987, it documented as From Marks & Spencer to Marx and Engels.
A documentary about the life on NE beaches constructed from Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen’s photographs + LETTERS TO KATJA (1994, 57 mins) documenting Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen’s return to Finland.
Book online at: www.tynesidecinema.co.uk . Tyneside Cinema, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6QG . 0191 227 5500
(1991, 45 mins)
CONFERENCE
FUTURE PRESENCE Documentary Practices & Possibilities A two day conference organised by Newcastle University’s Institute for Creative Arts Practice and Amber Film & Photography Collective, to complement the “For Ever Amber” exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery. BOOK ONLINE AT: http://goo.gl/MjM5OA Image: Weardale, County Durham, 1995 by Jindrich Streit
10 - 11 JULY 2015 Conference Venue: Room 32, Barbara Strang Teaching Centre (formerly Bedson Building) Newcastle University Building No. 21 on campus map, Pedestrian access via Armstrong Lane £30/£25 students
CONFERENCE ITINERARY: Friday 10 July
Past Practices: Context and Critique
Morning Session 9.30 - 10.00
Registration and Refreshments
10.00 – 10.05
Welcome and Introductions Professor Eric Cross, Director, Newcastle University Institute for Creative Arts Practice & Dr Ian McDonald, Senior Lecturer in Film Practice, Newcastle University & documentary filmmaker
10.05 – 10.15
Overview: Graeme Rigby, Amber Films & Photography Collective
10.15 - 10.45
PHOTOGRAPHY: Presentation by Ian Macdonald (Greatham Creek, Tees Estuary, Blast Furnace)
10.45 - 11.15
PHOTOGRAPHY: Presentation by Keith Pattison (Easington August 1984)
11.15 – 12.15
Panel Discussion and Q&A with Ian Macdonald, Keith Pattison; Graeme Rigby
12.15 – 1.00
Screening: Writing in the Sand (Amber Films, 1991, 45 mins),
13.00 – 13.30
Lunch
Afternoon Session 13.30 - 14.30 14.30 - 15.00
Screening: Handsworth Songs, (Black Audio 1986, 61 mins),
15.00 - 15.30
FILM: Black Audio presentation on its 80s work/workshop movement production. John Akomfrah & Lina Gopaul, Smoking Dogs Films
15.30 - 16.00
Panel Q&A: Ellin Hare, John Akomfrah & Lina Gopaul; Ian McDonald (chair)
16.00 – 16.15 16.15 - 16.30
Refreshments
16.30 - 17.15
“Researching Amber - The promise of an oppositional arts: the enduring relevance of the Amber Collective” Robert Hollands, Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University John Vail, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Newcastle University
17.30
Close
FILM: Amber presentation on its 80s work/workshop movement production Ellin Hare, Amber Films & Photography Collective
Panel of the Documented A discussion with individuals whose lives and communities have been documented in films and photography projects linked to works held in the AmberSide Collection. Ellin Hare (chair)
Saturday 11 July Contemporary Practices: Openings and New Opportunities Morning Session 9.30 - 10.00
Refreshments
10.00 - 10.30
Developing documentary practice & pedagogy: The role of the University Ian McDonald, Senior Lecturer in Film Practice, Newcastle University & documentary filmmaker
10.30 - 12.00
PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO: Verso Images presentation of Grozny: Nine Cities Olga Kravets, Maria Morina, Anna Shpakova, Oksana Yushko, Verso Images. Followed by Panel Q&A chaired by Graeme Rigby, Amber Film & Photography Collective
12.00 – 12.30
Lunch
12.30 - 14.00 12.30 – 13.00: 13.00 – 14.00
Option 1: Screenings Student Short Docs: A series of short docs produced by MA Media students at Newcastle University. Today I’m With You (Amber Films, 2010, 53 mins)
12.30 – 14.00:
Option 2: Guided Tour Guided tour of the For Ever Amber exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery. (15min walk from conference venue)
Afternoon Session 14.15 - 14.45 FILM: Presentation by Amber of From Us To Me Ellin Hare, Amber Films & Photography Collective (chair) 14.45 - 15.45 Panel Discussion - the use of archive works in contemporary documentary Ellin Hare, Graeme Rigby, Amber Films & Photography Collective (chairs) with John Akomfrah & Lina Gopaul, Smoking Dogs Films 15.45 – 16.00
Refreshments
16.00 - 16.45
Open discussion on future possibilities for documentary practice. Ian McDonald and Peter Taylor (Director, Berwick Film & Media-Arts Festival)
17.00
Close