100 PEOPLE is an experimental approach to film-making which aims to support people who either live, work or play in the residential area of Shieldfield (Newcastle upon Tyne) to collaboratively identify and articulate their stories.
Combining oral histories, one-to-one discussions, and multiple opportunities for public forum the project co-creates a complicated and multi-voiced portrait of place, touching on the neighbourhoods past, present and imagined futures.
The project produced an exhibition, a feature film and a community archive collectively owned and managed by the community co-operative ‘Dwellbeing Shieldfield’.
Head to the 100 People website here!
We are delighted to invite you to the premier screening of 100 PEOPLE, a feature length film-portrait of Shieldfield (Newcastle upon Tyne).
Initiated and led by artist Andrew Wilson, this ambitious work combines several conversations between residents and workers, diverse in age, ethnicity, and economic background, to create a complicated and multi-voiced portrait of coexistence.
Once an area of farming and horticulture, Shieldfield was transformed into a bustling residential neighbourhood. Today, following its industrial decline, the neighbourhood and its people are establishing an array of strategies to connect and inspire amidst increasing social and economic predicaments.
With an original score from cellist Ceitidh Mac and composer Anna Hughes, the film is a poetic, funny and often moving reflection on our not-to-distant past, precarious present, and an everyday collective-resistance.
“We are not very good at telling stories about a hundred people doing things.”
– Rebecca Solnit, When the Hero is the Problem (2019)
We warmly invite you to its premier screening on Wednesday 1 November 2023, 7-10pm. This will be held at the Star and Shadow Cinema and is a pay as you feel event so please sign up here: https://www.starandshadow.org.uk/programme/event/100-people-a-portrait-of-coexistence,7063/
We hope to see you there!
100 PEOPLE has been supported by Shieldfield Art Works, Dwellbeing Shieldfield, Newcastle University Engagement and Place fund and Arts Council England.
For more information on the project and a teaser trailer visit: www.100peopleshieldfield.org/audio
The film will then be screened at SAW in November 2023 on:
Saturday 4th, Wednesday 8th, Thursday 9th, Saturday 11th, Wednesday 15th*, Thursday 16th, Saturday 18th.
Screenings will begin promptly at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.
*There is no 3pm screening on Wednesday 15th November
SAW Reflects: Tuesday 14 November 2023, 6-8pm
An evening to reflect on the work and its themes, over food and discussion going deeper into how the themes relate to ourselves, our world and our beliefs.
Part One: An Exhibition
100 PEOPLE: A Community of Objects
Exhibition: 8 October – 24 November, 2022
Preview: Friday 7 October, 6-8pm
The exhibition brings together many personal items to create an eclectic portrait that represents the diversity of people who inhabit the neighbourhood of Shieldfield. Part of 100 PEOPLE which seeks to co-create a complicated and multi-voiced portrait of place, touching on the neighbourhoods past, present and imagined futures.
Opening Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 11am-4pm and Saturday, 11am-1pm. (Not open on Saturday 29th October)
How might the objects we house tell a story of who we are?
This October Shieldfield Art Works (SAW) invites you to donate a personal item for public display for the duration of their current exhibition.
So long as you identify as someone who either lives, works, or plays in the residential neighbourhood of Shieldfield, then you are invited to bring an object for exhibition. This could be a photograph, a game, an item of clothing, a letter, a piece of furniture, a tool, a utensil, an instrument or an art work, it’s up to you!
The idea is to bring together many personal items to create an eclectic portrait that represents the diversity of people who inhabit this neighbourhood.
How and when can I bring my object?
100 PEOPLE artist Andrew Wilson invites you to bring your objects to SAW on either a Wednesday or Saturday morning from 11am – 1pm. Andrew will have the kettle on ready to welcome you, before asking you about your object and registering it as part of the growing collection.
The collection will begin during the installation week on:
Wednesday 5 October 2022, 11-1pm
And end on: Saturday 12 November 2022, 11-1pm
Throughout the exhibition we will also be hosting a number of events connected to the wider 100 PEOPLE project, details below.
Saturday 22 October 2022, 1-4pm
Workshop: A song for Shieldfield
Earlier this year artist Andrew Wilson asked Shieldfield residents if they knew of a Shieldfield ballad, folk song, chant, pop banger, or even nursery rhyme? None were forthcoming so we decided to make our own.
Join us for this collaborative workshop alongside Newcastle based Cellist & vocalist Ceitidh Mac, as we attempt to co-create a song for Shieldfield! All welcome! No experience in music or song writing necessary. Book a space by emailing 100peopleshieldfield@gmail.com
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Tuesday 25 October 2022, 6:30-8pm
Presentation/Discussion: SAW Reflects
SAW Reflects are events where we think about the themes in our exhibition programme and explore how art and theology can speak to each other. We will hear from artist Andrew Wilson about the background to the 100 PEOPLE project and collectively discuss and consider how it relates to ourselves, our world and our beliefs. Book a space by emailing enquiries@saw-newcastle.org.
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Friday 4 November 2022, 7-9pm
Teaser Screening with Live Soundtrack, Ceitidh Mac & Anna Hughes
Newcastle based cellist Ceitidh Mac and fiddle player Anna Hughes will perform their 100 PEOPLE composition live and interwoven with a number of clips from the project recordings. This is a unique opportunity to hear Ceitidh and Anna perform whilst getting a glimpse of you and/or your neighbours on screen! Book a space by emailing enquiries@saw-newcastle.org.
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Saturday 19 November 2022, 7-9pm
Screening: Estate a Reverie, 83mins (2015) Dir. Andrea Luka Zimmerman
Filmed over seven years, ‘Estate’ is a spirited celebration of extraordinary everyday humanity. Interweaving intimate portraits with historical re-enactments, landscape and architecture the film celebrates the resilience of residents who are profoundly overlooked by media representations and wider social responses.
The screening will be followed by a public forum with artist and filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman. Book a space by emailing enquiries@saw-newcastle.org.
What is 100 people?
100 people is an experimental approach to film-making which will co-create a multi-voiced video portrait of Shieldfield. It aims to do this by supporting the many diverse people who live, work and play here to both identify and articulate the stories and desires which shape this neighbourhood.
Between May – November 2022, with support from the many existing groups and organisations, this project will host a range of opportunities to find and record stories and portraits with people who live or work here. These recordings will then go on to form;
a) an exhibition at Shieldfield Art Works in October 2022
b) a feature film that will be released in September/October 2023
c) a community archive of recorded material that will be owned and managed by Dwellbeing Shieldfield
Who can get Involved?
If you live or work or play in Shieldfield you can contribute to this project as one of the 100 co-contributors to the project.
We are open to working with the widest range of people as possible welcoming a wide mix of age, gender, ethnicity and economic or cultural backgrounds and experience.
And how?
To get involved, or find out more, you can keep an eye out for our events programme and opportunities over the coming months. Or, If you would like to contact Andrew directly, to ask a question or propose an idea, you can do so at: 100peopleshieldfield@gmail.com
Some ideas could be;
-Perhaps you have a story you’d like to tell?
-Perhaps you would like to hear and record somebody else’s story?
-Perhaps you like to attend a workshop to understand how to do that?
-Perhaps you’d like to have a recorded conversation with someone very different from yourself?
-Perhaps you have some video footage that you’d like to share at a screening event? (VHS home video, TikTok, whatever).
-Perhaps you’d like to simply be kept updated on all future events?
-Perhaps you have something else in mind? (we’d love to hear it)
Where, when, and how does it happen?
All dates tbc, but our schedule will include the following:
May 2022: Archive Training workshop for Dwellbeing Shieldfield members and other people within the community.
May 2022: Deliver a series of Workshops with The Shieldfield Youth Programme co-creating a playful book of conversation starters.
June 2022: Archive Screenings in partnership with North East Film Archive.
June 2022: Two-day Recording event at Shieldfield Art Works; an opportunity for you to interview fellow residents on camera, people who are very different to you (intergenerational, cross-cultural, etc).
Oct 2022: 100 people Exhibition at Shieldfield Art Works.
Nov 2022: The Exhibition will host Public Forum events on the many themes that emerge.
September/October 2023 : 100 people Feature Film will be screened to a public audience.
What are the ideas behind it?
Like many neighbourhoods across the UK, Shieldfield is home to many people whose lives differ considerably. As this area has moved beyond its industrial roots, as its pubs and social clubs have closed, a diverse mix of people with very differing social needs have moved in and in response, several peer-led initiatives have emerged including (among others) a volunteer-run café, an artist-led youth programme, and a community driven co-operative.
Aside from their location each of these initiatives share a driving force anchored within the values of collective co-ordination (doing stuff with, by, and for each other) as a challenge to social isolation, gentrification, and other forms of inequality or marginalisation.
So, if we identify that positive social change can result from connecting more deeply to the people around us, from co-ordinated rather than solo action, then shouldn’t this also be reflected in how we access and articulate our stories?
Maybe so, but what if we are not very good at it?
In her 2019 essay When the hero is the problem writer and thinker Rebecca Solnit states:
‘We are not very good at telling stories about a hundred people doing things’
Solnit observes that the majority of stories we hear tend to focus on one single person doing one big thing … and that our novels, our news, our cinema, and our history are all dominated by these tales of individual success.
What might the consequences be when we push one single-person to the front?
What might be hidden in their large shadow?
Whose story gets left behind?
The challenge for this project – to articulate a collective story of 100 people doing many different things – is unsurprisingly complicated.
For all of the activity here in Shiledfield there is no singular spokesperson, no figurehead, no hero, and as such it is a story that remains difficult to tell.
But what if we tried?
Who is involved?
Shieldfield Art Works: a developer of artist-led projects, events, exhibitions, workshops, and publications with a longstanding commitment to provide space and resources to their local community.
Dwellbeing Shieldfield: a community benefit society/co-op led by residents to support community members of all ages and backgrounds to play an active role in Shieldfield.
Shieldfield Youth Programme: a youth centred programme of activity developed by Dwellbeing and The NewBridge Project in response to the current lack of youth provision in the area.
North East Film Archive: a charitable archive of amateur and professional filmmakers documenting life in the North East for over 130 years.
Ali Atkinson Philips: Dwellbeing Shieldfield Steward and public historian Ali is a familiar face who will support archive development/training for residents.
Dan Russell: an artist who works across visual art, music, design, & socially-engaged practice, Dan will support the workshops with the Shieldfield Youth Programme.
Evripidis Karydis: documentary filmmaker Evripidis will provide technical support with all aspects of filming throughout the project.
Ceitidh Mac: cellist & vocalist Ceitidh will compose a soundscape in response to her interaction with the project, the area, and the many people involved.
Andrew Wilson is an artist who regularly works in collaboration with many other individuals, groups and organisations. A studio holder at The NewBridge Project he has previously worked with Shieldfield Art Works in 2018-19 on a collaborative event and video making residency called NorthEast Enders and, alongside others, in 2019 he co-initiated the Shieldfield Community Cup.