Projects
Current Projects
Daneshouse & Stoneyholme Project – Various Artists
Over the winter we are running a range of creative and sports activities along the canal, at Daneshouse Community Centre and the Chai Centre which are open to all.
Picture Hyndburn – Jamie Holman & Zara Saghir
People and objects from the Hyndburn community are being professionally photographed for a new art exhibition in 2025.
Life Story in Sound – Paul Nataraj
We're working with sound artist Paul Nataraj to produce a series of workshops where participants can learn how to use sound and music production techniques to produce an audio portrait of their life story.
The Exbury Egg – Stephen Turner
The Exbury Egg is a laboratory for studying the environment by artist Stephen Turner which invites us to reconsider our relationship to nature and its cycles.
Clayton Portraits – Natasha Aldred
As part of a project to bring the community together and celebrate the people and businesses that have been born from Clayton Le Moors. The Super Slow Way have commissioned Natasha Aldred, a local illustrator under the name 'The Pendle Witch Project', to create portraits of the local characters of this community.
21st Century Protest Songs – Matt Hill
Artist Matt Hill has been a resident artist with Super Slow Way over the summer of 2024 working with marginalised communities to write protest songs.
Taste of Transformation – Dana Olărescu
Taste of Transformation: Artistic explorations in food justice
‘Wild rose thrives where the castles crumble’ – Gavin Renshaw
Over the last twelve months mural artist Gavin Renshaw has worked in collaboration with students from The Hollins to refresh the original mural along the Church stretch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal which was painted in 2000.
Pocket Park – Rebecca Chesney
A little oasis along the canal, developed by artist Rebecca Chesney and members of the community.
Past Projects
Ghost – Adam Chodzko
Earlier this year, people were invited to take a journey on Ghost along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Ghost is a specially built wooden kayak created by artist Adam Chodzko.
Listen Up! – Tom Washington & Caelen Salmon
Listen Up saw artists Caelan Salmon and Tom Washington explore the social and cultural landscape of Blackburn through a series of roadshow style, sonic pop ups in communities living close to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
Blackburn Space: Canalside Activity Centre, Mill Hill
One of our past canal side spaces in Mill Hill, Blackburn.
Jeremy Hutchison – Dead White Man (Effigies)
Bales of secondhand clothes were shredded, allowing participants to transform secondhand clothes into a horde of miniature zombies.
Eva Sajovic in collaboration with Nicola Privato – #end_of_empire
In-Situ artist in residence Eva Sajovic drew on the history and heritage of Lancashire as the origin of the Industrial Revolution.
Nick Jordan and Jacob Cartwright – Larksong
Collaborative artists Jacob Cartwright and Nick Jordan presented a film installation in Goodshaw Chapel, Rossendale, a nonconformist Baptist chapel established by textile workers and farm labourers in 1760 and now owned by English Heritage.
Artist A & Artist B – The Surplus Badge
The Surplus Badge was developed in three stages: workshops with East Lancashire Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, a participatory picnic filmed on the lawn in front of Towneley Hall and the installation including the film and artworks, exhibited in Towneley’s Family Dining Room for the British Textiles Biennial.
Rebecca Chesney – Conditions at Present
Using the discarded fabric, in collaboration with FWRD (Festival Waste Reclamation and Distribution) Together, Rebecca Chesney's field of windsocks served as an indicator of current conditions; a barometer of the climate crisis of our own making.
Material Memory
Nothing holds memories better than fabric. Passed down through generations for commemoration or passed on for safe care in dangerous times, it is mobile, mendable and holds memories within its threads.
Christine Borland – Projection Cloth
In Christine Borland’s installation, four films were cast onto a Projection Cloth of fustian, a mix of linen warp and cotton weft, woven into the fabric of this medieval cruck barn.
Common Wealth – Fast, Fast, Slow
Working with community co-creators from East Lancashire, Common Wealth Theatre presented Fast, Fast, Slow, an interactive catwalk performance that takes the audience on a journey through our relationship to fashion, from Burnley to Ghana.
Eating the Canal
A selection of downloadable resources: Learn about, map and cook with the wild edible and medicinal plants that grow along the Leeds & Liverpool canal around Burnley.
Local Colour 2019
Claire Wellesley-Smith worked with the local community at Elmfield Hall, and experimented with dyeing techniques that were pioneered at the hall almost 100 years ago.
Yes and…
Over the spring and summer In-Situ’s Yes, and… young people's group will be exploring the creative use of lighting in their local area, specifically on the canal
Art in Manufacturing 2019
Artists collaborate with industry for a third time as five artists meet five manufacturers for The National Festival of Making’s unpredictable, collaborative art commissioning series
Jamie Holman: Live The Dream
Through out 2018 and 2019 we worked with Blackburn based artist Jamie Holman on a co-commission with Lancashire Encounters Festival
Our Textile Town
Join us for FREE family textile workshops inspired by Padiham's world-class Gawthorpe Textiles Collection
Fabrications 2017
A celebration of textiles through the eyes of artists in Pennine Lancashire September 2017
St Silas CE Primary School
Bristol-based artist Marina Moreno spent the academic year with St Silas CE Primary School in Blackburn. She staged creative interventions in the school and worked with the children on photography, dance, drama, drawing, yoga and much more.
What grounds Us
Artist Laura Jamieson is artist in residence at the Jinnah Centre in Burnley. Over eight months she spent time with the communities and young people of Stoneyholme and Daneshouse.
Art in Manufacturing 2017
Art in Manufacturing is a collaboration between the Festival of Making and Super Slow Way. Together we commissioned nine multidisciplinary artists to work with some of the leading manufacturers across Pennine Lancashire.
Shapes of Water, Sounds of Hope
US artist Suzanne Lacy worked with the people of Pendle to create a mass participation artwork at Brierfield Mill in September 2015.
O.K. – The Musical
A co-commission with Tate Liverpool let audiences see the entire production and performance of a musical unfold live in the gallery.
The Exbury Egg
On the first stop in a national tour, Stephen Turner's Exbury Egg came to Finsley Gate Wharf in Burnley.
Beyond Labels: In Young Men’s Shoes
Young men at Hollins Technology College explored issues of identity with a variety of artists.
Burnley Youth Theatre: Super High Way
Burnley Youth Theatre led an exciting performance on the banks of the canal at Sandygate Square, Burnley.
Muhammad Ali and Me
Muhammad Ali and Me is the coming-of-age story of a young, black, gay girl growing up in foster care, and her fantastical friendship with the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, ‘The Greatest’.
#BridgingBlackburn
#BridgingBlackburn was a collaborative project which brought together young people interested in social action from SLYNCS and a site-specific theatre company from the Netherlands – PeerGrouP.
Hugging the Canal
Singing for their supper, artists Jennifer Reid and Simon Woolham set off to walk the 127 miles of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, exchanging their traditional songs with inn keepers along the way for accommodation and food.
Alwin Reamillo – Harkat
Harkat, devised by Philippine artist Alwin Reamillo in collaboration with Action Factory and the Canalside Community Centre was a cross-cultural project that celebrated the spirit of journey, diversity and community.
Circle of Friends Go Walking
Circle of Friends Go Walking' was a collaboration between artist Jean McEwan and Blackburn Circle of Friends group. Together they explored playful, creative ways of walking, wandering and wondering.
Kinara Festival
The Love & Etiquette Foundation brought a month of events celebrating Islamic culture to Pennine Lancashire.
Blackburn Canal Festival
Blackburn Canal Festival was done the Super Slow Way in celebration of 200 years of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
The Island of Mill Hill
Anthony Schrag worked with the people of Mill Hill to investigate what it means to be a 'Mill Hiller'.
Super Slow Way: A Rhapsody to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
A specially commissioned Rhapsody by composer Ian Stephens featuring a libretto by Ian McMillan came to Blackburn.
Super Slow Way: A Rhapsody to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
A specially commissioned Rhapsody by composer Ian Stephens featuring a libretto by Ian McMillan came to Blackburn.
idle women
idle women's floating arts centre for women and girls visited sites along the canal in Pennine Lancashire throughout 2016.
Nightsafe
Artist Najia Bagi worked with the young people at Nightsafe in Blackburn to explore their relationships and ideas of identity.
Cataloguing Padiham
Harriet Lawton collaborated with Gawthorpe Hall and Padiham residents in a series of workshops, culminating in a label trail through Padiham in summer 2016.
Creative Support
Artist Cath Ford worked with Creative Support at the BB1 for Life cafe in Blackburn.
Verd de Gris – Voluntary Carers in Care Homes Service and Carers Trust Dementia Project
Verd de Gris worked with two carers groups in Blackburn in a series of creative workshops.
Melville & Co – Victoria Park Community Café, Nelson
A collective of artists investigated the stories, memories and lives of the people who visit Victoria Park.
Melville & Co – Victoria Park Community Café, Nelson
A collective of artists investigated the stories, memories and lives of the people who visit Victoria Park.
