Urbansuburban, a temporary project about community reminiscence, explores the relationships within the area of St Ebbe’s in recent history (within living memory) in the context of Westgate Oxford.
The project began in April 2016 and principally evolved through reminiscence work with local groups in collaboration with Oxford City Council. Material researched ranged from objects, sound, photographic and archival images and drawings. During the project Barbaresi reached out to some of the original residents of the area to hear their memories of a time of dramatic upheaval.
Urbansuburban captures traces of an area that has changed beyond recognition, also revealing the identity of a place that continues through the memories of people who were re-located to new estates on the fringes of the city. The project culminated in an artist’s book, bringing together the Barbaresi’s research material and her own interpretive artworks. These were displayed at the Museum of Oxford in late 2016 and featured in Future Knowledge at Modern Art Oxford in May to June 2017. The book can be downloaded from the project blog at http://urbansuburbanoxford.blogspot.co.uk
