The Exchange Exhibition and art workshop

At the City Art Space Gallery: The Exchange

Members of the Trinity Art Group exploring the artwork on display 

Mizmaze - the start of the giant collaborative wall piece.

Last May, the Trinity Art Group was fortunate to be invited by local artists Noriko Suzuki-Bosco and Orah Bradshaw to participate in their brilliant art show "The Exchange", at the Discovery Centre's City Space Gallery.

The group where invited to a workshop, where they had the opportunity to work with the professional artists; exploring creative / meditative (mindfullness) techniques, which culminated in the collective production of colourful postcards - which were then added to the exhibition's "Mizmaze".

Exploring the show with Orah Bradshaw

Collaborative postcard artwork workshop

Art critique

The Trinity Art Group really enjoyed the experience, especially the guided tour of the exhibitions by the artists themselves!

Enthused and inspired by our experience at the gallery, the art group and many Trinity Winchester service users continued to make postcard sized work.

Nearly 100 postcards in all were made, some weird and wonderful, some delicate and ethereal and all reflective of the lives of the people who made them living in Winchester. The artworks were deliver to the gallery in June and were added to the ever growing "Mizmaze".

In July, the artists Orah and Noriko held a tea party at the City Space gallery as a celebration of the community event and all those who participated where offered the opportunity to to take a postcard artwork away, as an exchange of ideas, friendship and creativity.

A big thank you to Orah and Noriko from The Trinity Art Group!

Visual artists Orah Bradshaw and Noriko Suzuki-Bosco at City Space Gallery with their show "The Exchange"

Visitors to the show, making their own art postcards

The closing Tea Party at the gallery

The Mizmaze complete, including Trinity Winchester Art Group art postcards 

At the end of the exhibition: just as visitors were encouraged to donate small works of art, the visitors were also encouraged to take a art postcard as a memento of the show. A creative exchange! 

People viewing the finished Mizmaze.

(Below is the Artist statement for the "Exchange" exhibition)

‘The Exchange: connecting culture, creativity and community’

City Space, Winchester Discovery Centre

23 May – 5 July, 2015

This art project draws from personal exchange of postcard mail art between artist friends Orah Bradshaw and Noriko Suzuki-Bosco which span a period of six and half years. They share a common interest in the art of the ordinary and believe in creating connections through artistic expressions and creative sharing. Orah and Noriko would like to share their personal experience of (mail) exchange with the local and wider community through this art project. They would like to ask the general public to take a moment to look around their familiar surroundings and explore ways of connecting with others through creative sharing.

The Exchange will showcase a new body of work by Orah and Noriko referring to the idea of exchange and connection as well as work developed from their personal postcard exchange. It will also display a collection of archival Edwardian postcards on loan from HCC. This historical look at the function of postcards will add another layer to understanding how people made contacts and connections in the times before social media.

Orah and Noriko are inviting the local and wider community to take part in this exhibition by creating a postcard-art reflecting what it means for them to be living in or visiting Winchester/Hampshire and being part of the local community.

There are no specific restrictions on materials or techniques used, only that it has to be postcard size paper. The cards will offer an opportunity for everyone to creatively share stories, experiences and memories of where they live.

The postcards may be made in the City Space or made elsewhere and brought in or posted to the City Space. The finished postcards will be displayed in the exhibition space to form a colourful wall map of the labyrinth ‘Mizmaze’ on St Catherine’s Hill; the popular and well-loved landmark in Winchester.

The gradually growing image of the Mizmaze will act as a visual guidance for everyone to sense how communities are built through connecting with others through creative sharing. 

There will be a number of interactive and inclusive postcard making workshops on offer during the exhibition to engage and inspire individuals and groups in the city and wider community.

Orah’s workshops will use mindfulness and visualization techniques to tap into individual creativity. Her training as a therapeutic counsellor informs her understanding and appreciation towards non-judgmental attitudes.

Noriko’s workshops will use recycled materials from local charity shops and donations to create colourful collaged postcards. Noriko’s workshops will run as parallel events with the craft collective POPIN, that she set up in Singapore whilst living and working there.

On the last day of the exhibition July 5^th, we will be having a Tea party in the afternoon to end the exhibition. Everyone who participated in the exchange will be offered the opportunity to take a Postcard-Art from the display, and after the exhibition any postcards left will be taken down and sent to someone else who also took part in the art project, in the spirit of connecting with the community and a form of ‘exchange’.

In addition, we are promoting the postcard making activity overseas. This international exchange element, we hope, will add another dimension to think about the world and the wider community beyond Winchester and Hampshire. The postcards made overseas will either be posted back to the City Space to be added to the display in the exhibition space or uploaded on to our website.

Orah and Noriko hope that The Exchange will provide an opportunity for them share with everyone their personal stories and interpretations of connections and exchange. It is also a space for the local and wider community to think about the people and the environment that surrounds them, how connections can be made with others and ultimately the sense of acceptance and belonging.