“Welcome, to The Abandoned Shop Of Curiosities; an emporium which manifests in abandoned shops, and offers a window into neglected, forbidden and unseen places. The shop invites visitors to interact and explore, to discover strange narratives, and meet furtive creatures from The Abandoned Buildings Project.”
The exhibition opened with a Victorian Tea Party, Jan 13th 2011. Jane held an open studio throughout the residency, and invited visitors to contribute to the production and development of new work. The interactive exhibition also invited visitors to share their memories of Blackburn’s now lost or abandoned places, using maps, written notes, drawings or by bringing in objects or photographs.
Manchester’s Loiterers Resistance Movement made several appearances throughout the residency, exploring the relationship between Blackburn’s official histories, and the personal histories of the people who live there. The visitor information gained was used by the LRM to create two walking tours of the town.
