Art Archives - Bristol Radical History Group

Restore – A Benefit Night For Bristol’s Kill The Bill Prisoners

At Strange Brew on Friday 15th December, 7-10pm

Time for some seasonal solidarity! A fundraiser for Bristol's Kill The Bill prisoners, hosted by the Justice for Bristol Protesters campaign, with all proceeds going to the Bristol ABC prisoner support fund (online donations here). Featuring two live bands, dj, prisoners art & poems, films, and live art from the Bristol Mural Collective. Info, tickets, and band videos from Headfirst here. Or rock up and pay (cash if possible) on the door! Strange Brew is a multi-room DIY art space / music […]

Ellen and Rolinda Sharples

Painted out of history

Bristol Radical History Festival 2023 poster, featuring a Walter Crane print

What is the connection between the Bristol Sharples family of artists, the American Revolution of the 1780s and the Royal West of England Academy of Art? Join Lee Cox in exploring the places where Ellen and Rolinda Sharples lived and worked at the beginning of the 19th century. Rolinda became the only female member of the Bristol School of Narrative Artists, whilst the Sharples family little known legacy led to the establishment of equal art training opportunities for women alongside men […]

Doris Hatt : Art, Principles and Politics

Twentieth century artist Doris Hatt (1890-1969) was a woman ahead of her time. She was a feminist and socialist, and a pioneer of modernism in Britain, but her life and work have been under-appreciated until the last few years. Doris Hatt was born in Bath, but after World War I she moved to Clevedon with her mother, where they established their home, Littlemead. When her mother died in 1929 Doris’s partner Margery Mack Smith, a school teacher and weaver, came to live with Doris, beginning a 40 […]

A colour chart for killing

The legacy of World War 1 - 'the war to end all wars'

During the centenary commemorations the fallacy of the First World War as ‘The War To End All Wars’ provides an invaluable platform for its legacy to Britain as a military nation to be explored. The exhibition aims to provoke reflection on the little acknowledged fact that the UK has engaged in almost continuous warfare ever since. A Colour Chart for Killing is a series which explores the relationship between ‘first world’ domestic culture, epitomised by the aspirations of DIY home improvement, […]

The Art and Nature of Conscience

'The Art & Nature of Conscience' explores World War 1 conscientious objectors' thinking about conscience alongside their words and artwork. It also show-cases contemporary artists' reflections on these men, including a new piece by Stephen Raw, 'The Absolutist’s Position' (pictured).

Art and War

Resistance and Recovery

‘A Colour Chart for Killing’ Jude Hutchen, the artist behind one of the festival exhibitions, A Colour Chart for Killing, talks about her work and art and war resistance. Her exhibition is showing in Bristol Central Library, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TL 1 April – 3 May. ‘The Art of Recovery’ Al Johnson is a sculptor, and director of Art for Bravo 22 a programme for recovery through the arts. Al will talk about her role and the development of The Art of Recovery a sculpture project for wounded, […]

Who would know that Britain has been almost consistently at war since WW1?

As part of the Lunchtime Lecture series organised by Bristol Libraries visual artist Jude Hutchen will present the ideas behind her current exhibition at the Central Library: ‘A Colour Chart for Killing – the legacy of World War One ‘the war to end all wars’, part of the ‘Commemoration, Conflict and Conscience’ festival program. Imagery from the housing market and home decorating is plundered to provoke questions about personal responsibility for mass violence, through connecting our quality of […]

Level 2: Banner making: The Atelier Populaire: The Struggles Continue!

Bristol Radical History Festival 2018 Poster Light

In May 68, visual culture was deployed as a form of radical protest, not just in the Parisian Atelier Populaire where students and faculty staff took over the Ecole des Beaux Arts, putting print on the map as a tool of global resistance movements, but around the globe from Italy to Mexico, from Japan to the United Kingdom, from the United States to Yugoslavia. These were "weapons in the service of the struggle… an inseparable part of it. Their rightful place is in the centres of conflict, that […]

Level 2: Exhibition: Political posters of 1968

We are very pleased to be hosting an exhibition of political posters from the 1968 movements created our friends at the Interference Archive in New York. From the Atelier Populaire (print collectives) of France’s insurgent 1968 to the radical posters of the Prague Spring and the university occupations in the United States and Mexico City. This exhibition is an an entry point into the cultural production of the global '68 moment and its continued influence on politics, art, and design today.

Not A Penny Off The Pay, Not A Second On The Day

By Randell Brantley

This is a 'celebration of the working classes, featuring a truly international line up of acclaimed urban artists.' Created by the same people behind 12 Days of Xmas this event is not only happening during the same week as BRHG's Down With The Fences but it is just around the corner as well. To see the full lineup of artists visit their website - Opening night - Thursday 1st May 7pm-10pm Then open everyday 12pm-7pm (closed on Tue 6th) The Old Motorcycle Workshop 15-19 Stokes Croft (opposite […]