Past Projects

On Your Doorstep

Curatorial Fellow, Hannah Kershaw, was inspired by the found objects in the Kettle’s Yard collection. She worked with communities in North Cambridge to make new creations based on found objects in the local area. These include jam made from locally foraged fruit, decoupaged artworks from international newspapers sourced locally, pebbles and shells collected from a local beach trip and much more. These were exhibited alongside objects from Kettle’s Yard at On Your Doorstep, an exhibition at 37 Lawrence Way. Discover more about the event below:

On Your Doorstep is supported by the Artisa Foundation.

I come from a place

Social documentary photographer, Katherine Green spent 2014 exploring the bonds of communities across North Cambridge. Her research uncovered a plethora of community-led initiatives stemming back to the first residents of the 1950s estates to the present day. She worked with the North Cambridge Girls Group, a group of young people and their youth workers, to explore how their experiences of living in the area today contrasts with living in the area in the past. Katherine captured powerful portraits which both document and celebrate some of the extraordinary residents and their community activity.

The project resulted in an exhibition at Kettle’s Yard and installation of some portraits in large poster boards across North Cambridge. This has proved so popular that a touring version of the exhibition is now being developed and will be displayed in community settings across the city with the portraits from the posters framed and permanently displayed at Buchan Street Neighbourhood Centre. You can hear some of the interviews Katherine Green recorded with community members here.

Arbury is Where we Live…. Now!

Members of Cambridgeshire County Council-run youth club, Club United, who meet regularly at the Meadows Community Centre, have been working with artists from Kettle’s Yard exploring how their local community has changed and discover what makes it so special to them and their neighbours. Click here to watch a short film about the project.

Artists Hilary Cox and Rob Birch have been working with the group during the school holidays, developing their skills in photography. They were greatly inspired by the Arbury 1980 project and resulting book Arbury is where we live by the late Sallie Purkis, which saw school children interviewing, recording and documenting their community at that time. Club United members, with the support of Rob and Hilary, took photographs of places that were special to them, interviewed and photographed local residents and visitors to find out their thoughts about the area, and visited local museums to discover some of the history and archaeology of north Cambridge. This has culminated in the creation of Arbury is Where we Live…Now! a publication which reflects both the young people’s experiences of the project but also the experiences of people living, working and visiting North Cambridge today.

Kettle’s Yard Community Partners:

Arbury Carnival
King’s Hedges Neighbourhood Partnership
Cambridge City Council Community Development
Cambridgeshire County Council Youth Services
Park Arts Group
Cambridge City Council ChYpPs Team
North Cambridge Academy
Grove Primary School
Arbury Primary School
Plus many more!