Where people meet.

Maintaining a physical space, a base from which to work, plan and support artists and communities, seems incredibly important given where we are at this moment in time.

9a Gallery is a space for exhibitions; a testing ground for ideas and creative development. It’s also a social space where people come together, encounter new ideas, hear different perspectives, and think about what they’ve seen or who they’ve spoken to.  Here, it’s worth exploring what comes into view if we consider 9a’s role as a social space.

Social space, like public space, conveys a sense of serendipity and unexpected encounters. It’s common to think of public spaces, like markets, parks and civic squares, as sites of conviviality; spaces where a diverse collection of people simply rub-along with one another in the moment. Galleries can claim a sense of this, although I’d suggest the social world of art galleries leaves many people out in the cold.

Exceptions to this are the community art spaces that emerged in the 1960s and 70s. Spaces like The Black-E in Liverpool were conceived as experiments in art and community, demonstrating a commitment to the diverse, working-class populations on their doorstep. Still going strong, The Black-E is an exemplar of the way an art space becomes part of the cultural ecology of a place. 

A while ago I went to the opening of Richard Street Studios in Rochdale at the invitation of Parvez Qadir from Breaking Barriers. The event featured an exhibition of work by Nwando Ebizie, a British Nigerian artist, performer, and musician. Ebizie’s show included sculptural ceramics and a series of photographs that became a backdrop to a dance performance. 

I perched against a stack of chairs at the back of the space. Young teenage girls arrive late, unsure of what’s happening, what the space is. They exchange looks, unsure of the situation and how they are supposed to act. They suppress giggles as Ebizie begins to dance in the light of a projector. I watch the excited uncertainty in their faces caught in the same beam of light. It’s a moment I remember from my early encounters with art, entering an unknown space and the thrill of stumbling into another world. For these girls this ‘other world’ was in their neighbourhood of terraced streets. 

This month, 9a is posting flyers through letterboxes in Lydgate, Cornholme and Portsmouth; an invitation to our neighbours to step inside and find out what’s happening. As a new arts organisation, we’re keen to explore the kind of social space 9a could become. For a small arts organisation, considering ‘the social’ might shift the frame from building ‘audiences’ to developing connections and friendships. We’ve already started to make connections with local spaces, Vale Community Garden and The Old Library Community Hub.

We will need strong networks and support for local spaces where we can meet, think and move forward together in uncertain times.