The exhibition title, ‘Place Setting’, alludes to a set of tableware for dining, and also resonates with how lives are shaped by a particular culture, industry and workers. Nina Thomas’s film of the same name explores themes of loss, local history and memory, community, and deaf experience, particularly within the context of Stoke-on-Trent and the ceramics industry. The film layers photography, archival imagery, Spode ceramic patterns, text and captions, with sound by Chu-Li Shewring and text by Nina. The creative descriptive sound captions are a collaboration between Nina and CareFuffle Working Group. Nina approached sound creatively, working with Chu-Li and CareFuffle Working Group to think about what sound and silence might mean from a deaf perspective.

As part of her research Nina interviewed Malcolm Johnson and Anne Cartridge who had been pupils at The Mount School for the Deaf in Stoke-on-Trent in the 1960s/1970s, and who went on to spend their working lives in the Potteries. The interviews provide both a context for and documentation of significant local history, feeding into Nina’s interest in what it means to lose deaf clubs and other community spaces which once held rich cultural, linguistic and social value.

‘Place Setting’ was commissioned by Animate Projects and British Ceramics Biennial. The project has been supported by Deaflinks, The Willows School and Spode Museum Trust.

Supported using public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Exhibition Opening: Saturday 6 April 2024, 2pm – 4pm