Creative Exchange: Space Studios at the Loop Bridge Mill

This exhibition and collection of prints typifies the quality and creativity of a group of artists at the height of their profession who span a considerable range of styles and media. Individually and collectively their work has been exhibited in numerous local, national, international exhibitions and contemporary visual arts events.
The common bond that links them all is the physical location of their practice. Housed on the top floor of an old mill building in East Belfast, the group have built a strong working bond since its inception. There is nothing new in the concept of forming arts collectives or groups and the following description grounds this type of generic initiative:
'Artists collectives have occurred throughout history, often gathered around central resources, for instance the ancient sculpture workshops at the marble quarries on Milos in Greece and Carrarain, Italy. Collectives featured during both the Russian revolution when they were set up by the state in all major communities, and the French Revolution when the Louvre in Paris was occupied as an artists collective.
More traditional artist collectives tend to be smallish groups of two to eight artists who produce work, either collaboratively or as individuals toward exhibiting together in gallery shows or public spaces. Often an artists' collective will maintain a collective space, for exhibiting or as workshop or studio facilities. Some newer, more experimental kinds of groups include intentional networks, anonymous, connector, hidden or nested groups, and groups with unconventional time-scales. Artist collectives may be formed: For economic reasons, to give members volume purchasing power and allow costs of publicity and shows to be shared. For political reasons, to increase local lobbying power for arts infrastructure, to gather behind a cause or belief. For professional reasons, to develop a higher group profile that benefits the individuals by association, to create a hub for curators and commissioners to more easily locate potential talent.
Artist collectives are significant to the artists practice in part because of the increased collective intelligence made possible by the cross-combination of multiple creative minds and disciplines, the cross-fertilisation of ideas and approaches and also due to the social richness and networking capacities involved.' *
* Wikipedia 2006

However, as an arts collective, Creative Exchange is unique in many respects. Most importantly, its location in East Belfast where, until the group formed in 1996, there was no significant contemporary visual arts activity.
Since the demise of ship building, engineering and rope-making in the 1950s, East Belfast has rapidly lost its proud manufacturing identity. The majestic Victorian and Edwardian industrial buildings have quickly fallen into disrepair and the local community, in general, has fallen on hard times. Loop Bridge Mill is no exception. It, unfortunately, had witnessed an earlier industrial demise as the flax industry ceased at the turn of the last century. Its story is a reflection of the linen industry and its decline throughout Northern Ireland. And typically, as large industrial buildings cease to operate as industrial entities, their use and occupancy become less determined. Due to their large scale and huge cost of upkeep, few find new manufacturing tenants and ultimately either are demolished or become the basis for museums or other social enterprises.
However, in 1894 Loop Bridge Mill found a new use as a printworks for McCaw Stevenson & Orr Ltd, and at it's height employed over 30 artists and designers as can be seen in the adjacent photograph from the Welch collection of the Designers’ Room in 1896. Happily, 100 years later in 1996 the top floor found a new lease of life as the Creative Exchange artists' studios. Not much has changed, although the dress code is slightly different.
Space Studios in the Loop Bridge Mill has all the attributes required by the visual artist: large windows, high ceilings, solid floors (and power to boil a kettle for tea). Along with these positive attributes come the hardships of leaking roofs, draughts, dampness and severely cold working temperatures. It is this palpable environment that helps form the strong working relationships and desire to push creative boundaries. The sense of creative energy in an otherwise derelict environment helps focus each artist on their individual goals as well as their common raison d'etre for joining forces in the first place. The mill itself, being located in an area of social deprivation, gives an added sense of need by each artist to inject personal energy back into this 'waste land' as was the situation when they moved in.
As with all vibrant entities, Creative Exchange has invited a range of contemporary visual artists to join the collective over the years. Some have been part of the scheme since the beginning and some have joined more recently as others have left. At any one time, there are usually around ten - twelve artists working within the space. The present incumbents include painters, sculptors, printmakers, video and installation artists and artists working in lens-based media and the applied arts. It is rare to find people with such a wide range of disciplines working along side each other and it is this rich mix that underpins the creative ‘exchange’ of ideas, techniques and materials so evident in their work….. and which makes Creative Exchange such a special arts provision in the province.
In our current climate, economic pressures are all pervasive and landlords usually value an old property such as a mill building solely for its monetary value and potential for increased income. However, the same building may be valued in other ways. An architect may value it for its particular intrinsic qualities. A community may regard it as part of their domestic landscape and precious for maintaining the community's visual identity. A social historian may see it in terms of marking societal change. The visual arts community normally value such buildings in terms of opportunities for artistic development and the celebration of new ideas. So it is the case with the Loop Bridge Mill. The site on which the mill stands has seen many changes of use over the past one hundred years. From employing large numbers of people in the textiles industry in its early years, to fewer people in the printing industry in its mid-life, to housing a handful of people in the 21st century, the building still stands proud, if in need of some loving restoration at present.
It is right, therefore, that Creative Exchange continues to provide a vibrant heart to a once thriving environment, gives purpose to an otherwise vacant lot and gives hope to a community looking to the future with uncertainty. It is also right that Creative Exchange continues to offer opportunity to up and coming artists as they make their way in the arts world by doing what the collective does best: exchanging creatively with warmth and openness.
Professor Brian McClelland
University of Ulster
2007