Ramsgate exhibition Ancestral Guide extended after rave reviews

Julia Rogers is extending her latest exhibition

An exhibition featuring objects and memories collected by a Ramsgate artist has proved so popular that it is being extended for another week.

Julia Rogers opened Ancestral Guide at the new Hold Creative Spaces site in Albert Street, Ramsgate, on July 9 and it was due to end on July 11.

But rave reviews have persuaded the artist and teacher to keep the display on show from July 14-17.

Ancestral Guide features everyday objects from Julia’s past and explanations of their meaning to her. They include her grandmother’s mirror, the wood where she marked her children’s growth over the years, a wall hanging created by her mum and her dad’s tools.

Julia said: “Many people were quite emotional, finding resonance in their own life and many had been told to come and find the show. It also threw up many discussions about a past society of makers some out of necessity and social circumstances -myself from a working class family.

“I have realised that these are things we are losing in today’s throwaway culture but also these are things that bring us together. The work is about the objects and memories I have collected for years. I have linked what I do and my love of particular things to where I have come from and trace similarities through my lineage.

“I have made artwork connected to themes and concepts lined to my parents, such as an anatomical heart made with gingham fabric similar to that which I was allowed to choose for my school summer dresses at primary age.

“To make the heart I had to sculpt one, deconstruct it and make pattern pieces in order to make it properly. This references my mother’s seamstress background.”

Julia, who lives in Ramsgate, studied art at Cardiff in the late 80s and a PGCE in teaching at Birmingham She has taught for many years alongside running her own art practice, raising a family and assisting with the management and running of art studios.

She said: “My work comes from a deep emotional place and connects with experiences and emotions which is why this show has resonated with so many people as it takes them back to the small things we remember but don’t voice, like sound and smell – all of which is in the show.”

Julia is a partner in Hold Creative Spaces community interest company and the venue is an open access studio where people can hire a space. There are also classes, exhibitions and art sales.

Large drawings are also on show at the venue. Julia said: “The drawing are about the alchemy of materials and application of ink and paint. I love how different materials react on surfaces and create effects which the artist cannot control but has to work with to be successful.”

Find Hold Creative Spaces at Penstone House, Albert St, Ramsgate or online here

6 Comments

  1. i cannot believe how gullible people are . perhaps we should list margate tip as an art exhibition ?

  2. Realist – I was taught if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Maybe this type of exhibition is not for you, but it does obviously interest others. I haven’t been, I don’t know.

    Congratulations to Julia that it is proving successful and of interest.

  3. Thank you for your lovely comments. In the words of Roosevelt ‘Man in the Arena’ speech
    “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

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