Jacky Puzey

September 10 – October 3 2005

Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Bristol, England, UK

an exhibition about trade, place, food and memory

a coming together for feasting and conversation

an exploration of histories, exchange and status

by Jacky Puzey
with Baljinder Bhopal, Jenny Davis, Colin Higginson, Mary Ingoldby, Philippa McKenzie, Lela McTernan
with thanks to Bob the Church custodian, Terryl Bacon, Sarah Green, Everton Hartley, Annie Lovejoy, Freya McTernan, Claire Teasdale, Scott Todd

Convivium is the Latin word for feasting, literally living together, convivially.

This exhibition starts from ideas of trade, fabric, food and memory in Jacky Puzey’s work Postcolonial Dreamcoats. Postcolonial Dreamcoats was an installation of costumes, food, fabrics, memories and trade goods, from memories of travelling between Europe, USA and Africa.

The narratives and communities that are part of this work, around people, conversations, home, exchange, memory, familiarity and status mesh into St. Thomas’ history as a centre of worship for traders and merchants.

Convivium, a coming together for feasting and exhibiting, came about through discussions all the artists have been having about exchange, culture, home and familiarity, evoked especially food and dining. It is also rooted in St Thomas’ history, the church wardens’ accounts detail a convyding, or feast from the 1600’s.

Colin Higginson’s Sugar House, a scale-model confection of this church, is inspired by learning about the sugar bakers that used the premises let out by St. Thomas’s, as well as merchants connected to the church. His sound piece The Congregation is made up of the voices of some of those who used St. Thomas for worship, commerce, celebration and feasting.

Baljinder Bhopal’s prayer cards are a personal reflection on the histories of St Thomas and Bristol, and a wider call to awareness for everyone, further exploring St. Thomas in the context of trade and exchange.

Jenny Davis has created a performance piece based on the writings of the Reverend John Ware, and in collaboration with Sarah Green they have produced a book, a legacy of the performance and of the Reverend’s writings, left on the lectern for audiences to read.

Jacky Puzey also collaborates with Lela McTernan, Colin Higginson and Mary Ingoldby for Feast. This is an elaborate feast table for the church, combining African textiles, English placesettings, Lela McTernan’s bespoke placemats that evoke far-off foods and trades, and Colin Higginson’s sugar centrepiece .Later in the show a video of the feast by Scott Todd and Mary Ingoldby’s soundtrack of a feast around this table will record the opening feast on this table, traces of the activities and dialogues that took place when the feast was held.

The position of the church as part of a web of history, status, exchange and culture is examined through personal stories and a variety of creative responses. The setting of St. Thomas church and the artists’ work combines to give an new and evocative take on trade, exchange, and community, within a church that was built on Redcliffe’s industrial wealth, from wool to glass to sugar, from tanners to lacemakers, merchants to sailors.

Exhibition kindly supported by the Churches Conservation Trust, DFES through The Scarman Trust, and Bath Spa University

Photography by Annie Lovejoy, Chandra Prasad, Jacky Puzey, D A Tidy