Two films showing a young boy and a pensioner performing a protest song are being shown as part of an exhibition celebrating Durham Miners’ Gala. The footage features in Big Meetings, an exhibition of work by photographer Julian Germaine at the DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery.
Julian was commissioned to chronicle last year’s gala and the pieces he produced include video portraits of a nine-year-old boy singing The Red Flag and a 77-year-old man performing the song on a tuba. The two films, which are shown side-by-side, encourage visitors to consider the changes to industry, culture, society and politics over the last three generations.
The exhibition is part of Brass: Durham International Festival and the film portraits are sponsored by ArtAV. Lucy Jenkins, DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery exhibitions coordinator, said: “The two films are about the significance of working class identity and cultural traditions and their ties to a set of political beliefs at a time when only fragments remain of the industries that framed them. “They also highlight how traditions and beliefs transfer between generations.”
As well as documenting the gala, Julian was also given the opportunity to capture some of the stories behind it and, as a result, the exhibition features photographs residents with their banners and brass bands in their practice rooms as well as activist groups preparing for the Big Meeting. The exhibition runs at the DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery until Sunday, 9 September. It will then move to the Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives, near Ashington.
For more information call 0191 384 2214, email dli@durham.gov.uk or visit www.durham.gov.uk/dli
