Festival Highlights City Factory's Centenary
An award-winning factory’s century of success will be showcased at this year’s Light Up Lancaster festival. A celebratory artwork featuring Standfast & Barracks staff and textiles will be projected onto Charter House in Dalton Square from November 7-9, 5-10pm.
The factory’s involvement in the festival comes as part of its centenary year festivities which have seen an exhibition at Lancaster City Museum, the clock tower’s restoration, a centenary celebration day, a schools competition, heritage open days, support to 12 local charities, and an art installation by renowned artist, Margo Selby as part of the Festival of Making in Blackburn.
After visiting previous Light Up Lancaster festivals, members of Standfast & Barrack’s centenary committee thought it would be another amazing way to highlight the factory’s special anniversary.
“We wanted to celebrate our employees and the business and Light Up Lancaster seemed like the perfect opportunity to create a ‘wow’ moment,” said operations manager, Simon Palmer.
“We hope the audience will gain an insight into the company, its capabilities and its skills to produce beautifully printed textiles here in Lancaster whilst celebrating our rich heritage, which spans the past 100 years. The installation will be a showcase of pattern and colour, alongside the craftsmanship of our manufacturing processes.”
Newcastle-based digital media design and production company, NOVAK has taken on the challenge of bringing the Standfast & Barracks story to life. Working closely with the factory team, NOVAK filmed inside the Caton Road premises and captured its sights and sounds. The completed artwork, entitled Imprint, will start and end with the company’s landmark clock tower and feature design styles present throughout textile history, which derive from Standfast & Barracks’ extensive archive. During the 10 minute piece, the designs will magically come to life and appear as moving pieces of art. The installation will also feature nearly 50 staff members who were filmed going about their work during NOVAK’s visits to the factory.
NOVAK’s work has featured at internationally renowned festivals, including Edinburgh International Festival, and for organisations including Trinity College Dublin, BBC Studios and MTV. This is the first time that the artists have produced an installation about a working factory.
“We have very much enjoyed learning about the history of Standfast & Barracks and their different processes, both in terms of manufacturing and design,” said director, Adam Finlay who started work on Imprint in February.
The finished product will be a highlight of this year’s Light Up Lancaster festival which features creative projection and video mapping, music and dance performances across the city centre, attracting thousands of people.
Imprint has been part funded by Sanderson Design Group, an international group of companies including Standfast & Barracks, which design, manufacture and distribute worldwide.
“It is an absolute delight to see Standfast & Barracks’ name in lights as part of this uplifting community-led festival,” said Lisa Montague, Sanderson Design Group CEO.
“We’ve been celebrating the factory's centenary throughout the year with a series of events, and it is wonderful to see how NOVAK has interpreted our story in this digital installation.
Imprint reflects the very best of what Standfast & Barracks means as a British manufacturer, an intrinsic part of Sanderson Design Group and, as an important part of the community.”
As its centenary year draws to a close, Standfast & Barracks’ final event will be the launch of the Clock Tower Club for retired staff as a lasting legacy of the important role which the factory has played in Lancaster’s industrial history.
For more information about Light Up Lancaster, visit: www.lightuplancaster.co.uk
