‘Virtual safari’ exhibition heading to Hartlepool

Published Wednesday, 16th January 2019

A wild collection of photographs from the early 1900s are being shown to the public for the first time in an exhibition coming to Hartlepool this month.

Barbara Griffin’s ‘Animals Out Of Place’ exhibition offers people the chance to view a selection of previously unseen illuminated, historic glass slides of animals housed in London Zoo over 100 years ago.

The FREE photography exhibition opens at Hartlepool Art Gallery for a special preview evening on Thursday 17th January from 6pm - 8pm and runs until Saturday 16th March.

Bg zebra house 2 2The preview evening will feature South American music played by Andrew Jackson (guitar) and Andrew Forsyth (flute), and snacks will be provided by the Bishop Auckland based vegan food company “Sue’s Bread”.

The exhibition has been made possible after hundreds of glass slide photographs dating from the early 20th century were found in an attic in Suffolk in 2015 showing animals in London Zoo, taken by two photographers, Richard Hancock and William Shakespeare.

“Exhibiting these photos of wild animals, taken in the early 20th century focuses our minds on the plight now faced by so many wild species,” says Barbara Griffin.

Much of Barbara’s work uses found objects that are presented in order to invite reflection - artistically, emotionally or rationally.

Slides of wild animals caged in a zoo can be seen as “Animals Out Of Place” that are kept and displayed according to the order of a more powerful species, humans, and systematically recorded photographically.

Hartlepool Art Gallery is located in Church Square and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. For further information, call (01429) 869706 or visit www.hartlepoolartgallery.co.uk