Skip to main content

As Touchstones’ and UP Projects’ exhibition Gut Feelings Meri Jaan comes to a close, the series of films by the artist Jasleen Kaur, made in collaboration with a group of women and gender non-conforming people from Rochdale’s Pakistani, Bengali and Punjabi communities, will go out into the community as a Film Trail.

The films are part of an exhibition at Touchstones until 13 February, and over 11 & 12 February you can also discover them in various locations around Rochdale and Littleborough.

The starting point for the films was a series of online workshops and conversations which took place throughout lockdown. During these conversations, Jasleen invited the group to think about the local history archive at Touchstones and to consider who is represented or remembered in telling the story of the town’s past.

The films interrogate how cultural memory is preserved, exploring ideas around identity, inheritance, migration, ritual and healing. Weaving together extracts from the group’s conversations with modified cultural traditions, performed by the group in specific locations in and around Rochdale, the films raise questions about who is and who is not represented or remembered in Rochdale’s social history and highlight the hidden histories and missing voices in local archives, particularly those of migrant communities.

The locations are:

Haji Cloth House
Address: 35-37 Tweedale Street, Rochdale, OL11 1HH
Opening times: Friday 11 & Saturday 12 February, 12 – 4pm
Film being shown: Seeds and Chillies

Better Together Building
Address: 54 Yorkshire Street, Rochdale, OL16 1RH
Opening times: Friday 11 & Saturday 12 February, 12 – 4pm
Film being shown: Farm

Pioneers Museum
Address: 31 Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL12 0NU
Opening times: Friday 11 February, 12 – 4pm & Saturday 12 February, 10.30am – 12pm
Film being shown: Archive

Ebor Studios
Address: William Street, Littleborough, OL15 8JP
Opening times: Friday 11 February & Saturday 12 February, 12 – 4pm
Film being shown: Selection of all films

Spotland Library
Address: Ings Lane, Rochdale, OL12 7AL
Opening times: Friday 11 February, 12 – 4pm & Saturday 12 February, 9am & 1pm
Film being shown: Yoghurt

Find out more about Jasleen Kaur: Gut Feelings Meri Jaan here.