Multistory is very excited to welcome The Caravan Gallery to kick off our series of artists talks, providing a taster menu of the Blast! Festival programme.

The Caravan Gallery is a collaboration between artists and photographers Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale to document the reality and surreality of the way we live today. It is also a mobile exhibition space that engages with people and places ‘normal’ galleries might not easily reach. Jan and Chris use colour photography to create accessible but thought-provoking images which frequently celebrate overlooked and occasionally bizarre aspects of everyday life.

The artist duo have been touring their caravan – ‘a mobile gallery and social club on wheels’ – around the six towns of Sandwell and will continue to do so throughout 2018 as part of their on-going Pride of Place Projects. Using their own photography, as well as stories, fascinating facts, objects and ephemera collected en route, Jan and Chris have been working alongside the community to create a portrait of each town and its people. They are inviting Sandwell residents to bring along their memories, hopes and aspirations for the place in which they live. The end result will be brought together in a celebratory exhibition in West Bromwich as part of Blast! Festival in 2019.

Join us at The Town Hall, West Bromwich, for the opportunity to hear Jan and Chris discuss the themes and methods present in their work.

This event is brought to you as part of Blast!, a festival of photography, talks and walks taking place over six weeks and across the six towns of Sandwell. Finding new and exciting ways of presenting art in, and with, the community, Blast! will use public space, community venues, pop–up sites, print, broadcasting and online platforms to present the work of local, national and international artists who have collaborated with local communities.