Imagine: 100 Years of Housing in Bath - an exhibition of art inspired by Bath’s archives

A free exhibition of artwork inspired by Bath’s archives will go on show at The Guildhall, Bath on Monday 24 October from 11am to 3pm.

The exhibition will showcase work produced by two local community groups – Get Creative and Genesis Trust – including architectural drawings, protest signs, collages, poetry, clay models and more. There will also be a display of housing records held by Bath Record Office and a collage activity on the theme of housing.

The event is part of a Wellcome Trust-funded project, Imagine: 100 Years of Housing in Bath, commissioned by Bath Record Office with Creativity Works, exploring housing and health impacts in Bath over the last 100 years.

Creativity Works uses the power of the creative process to bring people and places together to create a better future for themselves and their communities.

The project consisted of a series of varied creative workshops, which ran throughout the summer, devised and facilitated by artist Ellie Shipman and inspired by archives held by Bath Record Office. The groups creatively responded to archive material from Bath Record Office as well as their own lived experiences of housing and health to create their own archive boxes.

Comments from participants included:

• “Great session - enjoyed expressing personal views and not feeling judged.”

• “Tried digital drawing which was an entirely new experience!”

• “Really enjoyed the writing, having time to reflect. Wouldn’t have done this, but the course facilitated it.”

The group’s archive boxes will be archived themselves, adding new perspectives and local knowledge of housing and public health in Bath to the official records.

Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “The records of Bath’s housing history offer outstanding opportunities for research into the relationship between housing and health, and it is wonderful to see that these records have been able to inspire some fantastic creative responses from participants in light of their own experiences of housing." 

“We are very grateful for the donation of artworks, which will prove to be a valuable addition to Bath Record Office’s collections; capturing for posterity the experiences of local people, and adding modern lived experiences to the archives for future generations to discover and learn from.”

The event is part of Bath Museums Week, which runs from 22 to 30 October, and encourages residents to explore the wide range of museums and heritage Bath and North East Somerset has to offer.