Print research

Research various events and happenings in Leeds (in a public space) that helped shape the city.
Outcome is an A3 traditional printed poster celebratory of the event.

Put research into PDF by Friday

Research 2-3 public spaces
find out what flash-mobs, festivals, markets, exhibitions, markets, concerts

Find out more obscure information: organisers backgrounds, motivations

Horsforth Hall Park, Japanese Gardens

Here is an image of the Japanese Gardens, constructed in the early 1980s. This park is within the Horsforth Hall Park, Leeds and was built to reflect the important elements of traditional Japanese garden design. This includes spiritualism and the appreciation of natural materials. However in terms of events taking place here there seems to be none apart from the re-opening of the park as naturally, it was built to remain a place of tranquility as opposed to a public space fit for events. 

Leeds City Council executive member for leisure Councillor John Procter, said: "This project has been a major success and the restored garden looks fantastic. The only one of its type in Leeds, the Japanese garden provides a wonderfully tranquil environment with diverse and interesting features, and I am sure it will once again prove a very popular attraction at this well-used community park. Everyone involved in the project can feel very proud of their efforts." It took a staggering £90,000 to reconstruct the park.

There are workshops which you can attend however which aid the preservation of the park; you're taught how to maintain a traditional Japanese garden from trimming hedges to simple weed plucking. I imagine this would be as rewarding as it was de-stressing. 

Another place I began researching had the opposite problem, in that I found no evidence of it being in a public space despite claiming itself as a festival with stalls/ activities however it seems that they're all indoors at the Eiger Studios; which is a shame because I love the design of their promotional posters:

I then thought about exploring festivals as a more obvious choice for events in open spaces, and was drawn to those 'less obvious' or in fact rarely documented due to their illegality; these events being 'free parties' which are raves organised in outdoor areas, mainly large parks and forests. It will be more difficult to take photographs and produce imagery from these however I am searching for events. It may actually be beneficial this way as I was planning on documenting the areas which used to hold free parties in the past, taking scenic shots and overlaying them with collages of modern day free parties if I can find one in time, or pictures of people at squat or legal raves, highlighting a progression of the original free party. 

There are more free parties organised elsewhere in Yorkshire but uncommonly in Leeds as police have cracked down on illegal raves, squat raves are more common in London where I originally live but ever since large illegal raves were shut down such as the iconic Hounslow rave where a boy overdosed and died, someone lost their finger and violence broke out as police barricaded the disused postal office. Squat raves such as these clearly highlight the negative aspects of such parties almost free from laws, however free parties are usually outside, host far smaller crowds and promote a friendly atmosphere in the surrounding nature as opposed to industrial estate. 

I then stumbled across past free parties held by an organisation called 'Unity'. 

After riots broke out in 1995 in the L6 area of Leeds, the community was appalled at the bad press they received and were outraged at the police's need to send uneccessary riot vans; a pub was burned down and the public wanted to rebuild a sense of community so in Hyde Park set up a free party named 'Unity', where elderly locals to fresher students came together to party in the park. 

Here is footage of the riots.

Here is a an example set from the Iration Steppas Sound system in 2012.

Here is far more raw footage from the event in 2008, a more fitting documentation of the free party. 

Union is a continuing party but is unfortunately held in the Summer so I will be unable to physically document it first hand, however I did then go round Hyde Park and took photographs; with the intention of collaging images over the top of people raving, as per my initial idea when looking into free parties.