Exhibition looks at the Sunniside of Burlesque

An art project which has brought historical characters from a revived part of Sunderland city centre back to life is to be exhibited at a new £6m arts and business centre.

Over the past few months the group Art-wave has been working with Sunderland students, photographers and Manchester-based Burlesque artist Gemma Parker to recreate four flamboyant characters who lived in the area of Sunniside in the 1800s - a 28-year-old dress maker, a minister, a widowed school mistress and a French shipbroker.

The project has been funded by Sunniside Partnership – the organisation leading the regeneration of the area. An open evening for the exhibition ‘What do you think you’re looking at?’ will take place in the gallery of thePlace arts and business centre, from 7pm on Wednesday (DEC17). It has been inspired by burlesque elements and will contain a mix of photography, paintings and film as well as the characters themselves, brought to life in full dress by the artists.

A photo shoot of the Victorian residents which took place in Sunniside Gardens was seen by a relative of the minister, who got in touch with the group after receiving a welcome surprise while searching the internet to research her family history.

Margaret Wilks of Sussex has contributed an article and image of Reverend Sampson Turner taken from an old Primitive Methodist magazine. The portrait image was reproduced from an original copper plate etch print of Reverend Turner.

She said: “I have been researching my family history for several years now and so was surprised and delighted to find the account of the Sunniside art project on the internet. There on the screen in front of me was my three times great uncle Sampson Turner, brought to life by Ross Collier!

“As one of the early Ranters, Sampson led an interesting life, travelling on the Primitive Methodist Circuits for many years before retiring in Sunderland. He died in 1876 and is buried in Bishopwearmouth cemetery. His two sons were tailors and drapers in Sunderland.

“I visited Sunderland for the first time in April and spent some time exploring Norfolk Street. Sunniside is a very interesting and attractive area.”

Paul Brooks, of Art-wave, said: “Sunniside is such an interesting place and we were keen to delve deeper into its history. The exhibition is a culmination of the work we have been doing with Gemma to combine burlesque with Sunniside history and create flamboyant characters based on real Victorian Norfolk Street residents.

“The idea was to create something unusual, intriguing and colourful with a street appeal.”