Illuminating the past

transform is at the heart of the regeneration programme for Snibston Discovery Museum, Coalville. Through a series of commissions, the old Snibston Colliery site and the museum’s collections are the creative inspiration for new works produced by artists from around the country. The focus is on image, identity, change and place. In different ways the works capture the spirit of this place and help to transform perceptions of a post-industrial environment.

The first round of commissions touch upon and engage people in different ways. Projects have included an exploration of the cultural history of the area by Paul Conneally, which connects N.W. Leicestershire to the early Romantics (with luminaries such as Wordsworth and Coleridge spending significant time under the patronage of George Beaumont at Coleorton, a mere step up the road from Snibston); and a web of connections between people and places that has been captured to create a Wordsworth trail for the region, with Snibston at its heart. Already being used by local groups for walks, it offers a new circuit of ideas and connections, changing perceptions of the cultural base of the area.

In May 2011 transform commissioned an immersive multi-media and multi-screen film called LifeCycle by artist Geoff Broadway. It offered Coalville people the chance to comment on the changing patterns of life in the town, addressing their hopes and aspirations. Merged into a 5-screen piece, LifeCycle scenically sets Broadway’s conversations with residents against the backdrop of daily life in Coalville, and establishes a positive frame for local engagement with place. Originally screened in Century Theatre at Snibston, LifeCycle has also filled the Cube at Phoenix Media Centre and more screenings were held in the Belvoir shopping centre in Coalville in November.

Another recent project saw Andy McKeown and Peter Walker select detailed images, new music compositions and sound recordings associated with the Snibston Colliery in a major projection work called insideOUT. The materials were documented by 200 people and have established a legacy of 20,000 images. The images were projected around the former Snibston Colliery site as part of a two night live show. The project acted as a catalyst for the permanent lighting of the iconic headstock structures.

As transform reveals new dimensions of Snibston, its fabric and collections, it also builds a new audience for the arts and the process of change that it seeks to embrace. New projects, Mining Couture and New Age of Discovery follow this year.