Avalanche Arts

From the collection of

North East Film Archive
The North East Film Archive, based at Teesside University, save and celebrate the screen heritage of the North East of England. At the heart of their collection are films made by, and for, local people, reflecting and representing the communities, places and distinctive identity of the region. Together with their sister archive in Yorkshire they form the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive, a unique pan-regional resource with over 75,000 moving image artefacts, part of York St John University. They unlock the collections for artists, academics, curators, programmers, researchers, and producers to reveal compelling stories from the vaults. www.yfanefa.com

Avalanche Arts

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An unforgettable glimpse of the unorthodox performance art of a little-known women's collective.

In 1990 Langbaurgh Borough Council identified a need to give women in disadvantaged, semi-rural areas the opportunity to build confidence through performance arts. Avalanche Arts, supported by Northern Arts, Langbaurgh Bourough Council, Teesside Development Corporation, ran a series of workshops to provide opportunities where communities take the lead in encouraging confidence and promoting the message that art is for everyone.

A film about Avalanche Arts, a voluntary community arts organisation that worked with women and children in East Cleveland through a creative training programme in dance, music and the visual arts. The video showcases some of these workshops and performances between 1990 and 1991.


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From the collection

Community Arts & Festivals

A lively mix of creative efforts brings fresh opportunities and perspectives to forgotten northern communities.
The healing power of art is especially important in the most deprived areas of the North East. While millions of pounds are invested in job creation and saving declining industries, the creative spirit of people living with deprivation is easily neglected. Community arts programmes are often the first victims of budget cuts. But, as these films show, community art can leave a legacy of hope, curiosity, and self-confidence among the people who need nurturing most. Village Arts was a community filmmaking organisation set up in the 1980s to give creative outlets to people living in cultural deserts. In the 1990s Village Arts launched a project to bring together some of East Cleveland's most remote communities, and artists and filmmakers who could help them find their voice. These films are a legacy of that unique collaboration.

10 videos in this collection

1

Lingdale Carnival and Carlin How Gala 1990

2

Carling How Gala 1992

3

Avalanche Arts

4

Pier Pressure '97

5

Animation Workshop

6

Tees

7

Eyes of Fire

8

Life is Just a Dream on the Way to Death

9

Skinningrove Bonfire: Pirates 1999

10

Learning Together

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