Peoples Pottery Project

LeftCoast commissioned Emilie to design a project, to be part of Banquet-a large scale event created by LeftCoast and They Eat Culture, centred on the celebration of all things food and the sense of community it can bring in Blackpool. (Blackpool Winter Gardens, 2015).

Emilie established links with local allotments run by Grow Blackpool, a charity offering people who are isolated or vulnerable the opportunity to connect with growing food and being outdoors. She invited tableware Potter Victoria Dawes to collaborate with her on what became The People’s Pottery Project.

Over the course of the Summer in 2015 Emilie and Victoria set up ‘Pop Up Potteries’ at Grow Blackpool’s community allotments Cherry Tree Lane and Chepstow Gardens. Sessions were specifically about creating a set of plates and bowls that participants attending the meals could use representing their own personal reflections about food. The People’s Pottery Project Blackpool was informed and inspired by the British tradition of Slipware Potteries and their place at the heart of communities. The dishes created for Banquet were made by a huge cross section of the local community that came to make with us, and tell local peoples stories about food and eating. When viewed together they reflect the political concerns and the temperament of our times.

The resulting rustic dinner services have remained at the allotments for their continued use in sharing the food made at their gardening sessions.

Read an essay about the project written by Potters Doug Fitch and Hannah McAndrew.