Archives' Arts Council project - on location with Andy Brown

Sheffield Archives and Local Studies Library were recently awarded a grant by the Arts Council for a year-long project called ‘The City as Bricolage’.  Three local photographers (Clive Egginton, Andy Brown and Gemma Thorpe) are working with us to document various Sheffield communities.

One of the areas Andy Brown is looking is faith in Sheffield.  A glance through a Sheffield directory from 150 years ago shows a range of different faiths in the city including: Anglicans, Catholics, Unitarians, Quakers, Independents or Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, Jews, the Plymouth Bretheren, Swedenborgians and Latter Day Saints.  Since the middle of the twentieth century, immigration and demographic change have contributed to the growth of many different faiths in the city.

Andy has been photographing the altars, objects and faith leaders of the different faith groups across the city.  Last week we were warmly welcomed to the Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Sikh Temple in Attercliffe by Surinder Singh Dhillon.  The Temple was officially opened by Prince Andrew in 2012.  The photographs created by the project will be exhibited in Sheffield later this year.  The project will create a valuable and dynamic addition to the city's archives, helping to ensure that Sheffield’s diversity continues to be represented in the collections.

Pictured (above): altar at Sikh Temple, Attercliffe by Andy Brown