Former colliery village to be taken over by secret arts project inspired by everyday life and local older people

On May 14th Sunderland Road in Horden will be transformed in the middle of the night by a pop up arts event for 1 day only.
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The residents of Horden will wake up on Tuesday 14th May to find Sunderland Road filled with a series of unique art installations. Since September 2018 artists Sally Southern and Nicola Lynch have been working across East Durham primarily with people aged 55+ to capture the magic of everyday life.
 
The project, titled “If These Walls Could Talk” is part of the East Durham Creates initiative, which is funded by Arts Council England as part of their Creative People and Places programme.
 
If These Walls Could Talk has already engaged local people in a broad range of settings including care homes and community centres and has involved groups ranging from Tai Chi to Rag Rugging. The final work will be displayed in an unusual and surprising setting along an art trail. It will feature a mixture of text, audio and imagery inspired by the stories collected from across the former mining community and include original pieces of furniture and crafts created by those involved.
 
The trail starts at Horden Labour Club and will be on display all day (from 8am-10pm) so drop ins are welcome throughout. The event includes arts activities taking place at the Ark, bingo at the Labour Club, free refreshments and entertainment as well as free accessible transport for those unable to walk the route themselves. Volunteers will be on hand to provide information and maps for those wanting to walk the trail.
 
Malcolm Falow, CEO of East Durham Trust who manage the East Durham Creates project said; “This is an amazing experience for our Community as a whole, as well as giving local people a unique opportunity to experience high quality art this is a great way of putting Horden on the map for all the right reasons.”