A portrait of Chinese life in Sheffield

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.

Gemma Thorpe is working with the Chinese community in Sheffield.  She has started to document key occasions in the cultural calendar such as the Lunar New Year celebrations including the dragon dance and lion parade in the city centre and along London Road, backstage at the Chinese New Year gala in the City Hall, at events run by the Confucius Institute and at the Sheffield Chinese School presentation day. Gemma has also photographed a Chinese hairdresser who runs her own business for Chinese and English-speaking clients in Sheffield.  She is planning to work with older residents in the Chinese community, and is particularly keen to make contact with a family of three generations all living in Sheffield to show an intimate portrait of Sheffield Chinese family life.

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: dancers at the City Hall, Sheffield, 2014 by Gemma Thorpe.