A major exhibition at Site Gallery from 20 Nov 2009 - 13 Feb 2010, the culmination of an international project involving a series of residencies Residencies: Sheffield, UK, Aug 2009 Istanbul, Turkey, Jun 2009 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Apr 2009 Iasi, Romania, Nov-Dec 08 Bahia/Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jan-Mar 2008 Guangzhou, China, Apr-May 2008 East International, Norwich, UK, Jul-07 Liverpool Biennial, UK, Oct-06 Penzance, UK, Aug-06 Kuopio, Finland, Sep 05 read the SHOPS project blog >>

Kalakukkoleipomo Hanna Partanen (Bakery) 10.30am on 17 September 2005, Kuopio, Finland.

This exhibition brings together a collection of intimate portraits of local shops and contemporary urban life. Made with shopkeepers and customers in cities in Brasil, China, Turkey, Slovenia, Romania, Finland, and the UK, in each city we've taken a look at society through local shops, to show the possibilities of local difference amidst the dominant, highly commodified world of shops and shopping.

They've been attempts to construct situations that allow for a stronger experience of being present, where becoming complicit in making the artwork invites buyer and seller to renegotiate their daily encounters, as well as providing a context for people to see how they relate to the notion of community.

SHOPS publication
a publication documenting the whole SHOPS projects will be launched in Spring 2010. Contributions from Peter Jackson, Professor of Human Geography at The University of Sheffield, writer and lecturer Emma Cocker and local writers' perspectives from each of the host cities on the their shopping landscapes will feature alongside shop owner and customer stories, gathered ephemera and unseen images.

Commissioned and produced by Site Gallery, and supported by Arts Council England: Grants fr the Arts, Artists Links Brazil, the EU Culture Programme 2007, and the Raitu Family Foundation.

The SHOPS project has been organised in association with Platform Garanti, Istanbul, Turkey, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China, Vector Association, Ia?i, Romania and Galerija Škuc, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Other SHOPS commissions include: ANTI Contempoarary Art Festival, Kuopio, Finland; Tract Festival and Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance, UK; Liverpool Live 06 for the Liverpool Biennial; and Contemporary Art Norwich.

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