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Neil Ainger chats to Middlesbrough writer Dr Louise Powell about their upcoming exhibition which explores the stories of Sunderland’s collieries.
Image: Joe Humes Hand by Andy Martin
In October and November of last year, Sunderland photographer Andy Martin and Middlesbrough writer Dr Louise Powell held engagement sessions with members of the public with a personal or family connection to the Sunderland collieries. As part of these sessions, participants were asked to sit for a photographic portrait as well as be interviewed about their experiences and memories. This February and March, these sessions will form the basis of an exhibition at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, using words and images to tell the stories of the collieries.
“We’ve been blown away by the response to our calls for participants, with sessions filling up very quickly and often being oversubscribed,” said Louise. “We’ve photographed and interviewed over 60 people for this exhibition and likely could have included even more, had resources and timescales permitted.”
The region’s industrial past has influenced a lot of the duo’s previous work, namely the collieries of Washington in an exhibition at the Washington F-Pit Museum in 2023. Like many North East residents, this part of our history clearly means a lot to them and I was keen to understand exactly why the decision was made to focus all of their creative energy in this area. “With practically all of the physical evidence of coal mining removed, those people with close connections to the collieries are our remaining monuments to the industry,” explained Louise. “They have a great array of stories to tell, not only about life underground but also the communities and values which sprang up around it. As well as being of factual interest to future generations, the stories from the Coal Face project allow them to gain an emotional sense of what it was like to be part of a coalfield community when the mines were open. Whether they have mining heritage or not, whether they have lived in the area all of their lives or have recently made it their home; these stories allow future generations to access a greater understanding of this part of the world.”
As well as the six week long exhibition that will use portrait photography, audio and poetry to tell the stories of the Sunderland miners and the people who knew them best, Louise and Andy will be creating a publication based on the Sunderland sessions as well as a podcast and some events that are open to all to attend.
As well as being of factual interest to future generations, the stories from the Coal Face project allow them to gain an emotional sense of what it was like to be part of a coalfield community when the mines were open.
“There are six 20 minute episodes in the COAL FACE podcast and we’ll release one episode per week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We’re also holding a Study Day at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens on Saturday 1st March. It consists of two Q&A panels which offer an insight into the creative process behind the exhibition. Both events will be free to attend and will be bookable via the Sunderland Culture website. We’ve already released 2 publications on Washington for the COAL FACE project, but our forthcoming publication will focus on Sunderland. It will feature Andy’s photography and my poetry from the exhibition, alongside micro-monologues and other short pieces I wrote. The publication will showcase the faces and stories of its remarkable participants, and be launched at the Coal Face Celebration Event at Redhills in April 2025. It’s a tremendous honour to say that this event will be one of the first to be held at the renovated Redhills, and we look forward to celebrating that landmark, as well as our brilliant participants.”
