Alan Whitfield, Risk, Sale Arts Centre

I grew up in an industrial northern town. In the 1980s the industry left…

British industry underwent a period of turbulent change during the 1980s as a result of new government policies.  The Thatcher administration then advanced the concept of ‘The Industrial Estate’, which became an out of town regeneration scheme that every town wanted. As an island, there is only so much small industry our infrastructure can support.

Often when an area receives European funding, it is designated as an inhabitable Brownfield Site renovation scheme. Such official terminology can be perceived as disingenuous and becomes a metaphor for deprivation. I aim to document the junctions and roads of the areas where the jobs never came.

http://watersideartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/1297-risk/ Please go and see my exhibition if you are over at Sale in Manchester