So what happened in Britain in 1913? This pre-war era seemed idyllic to many, George V had been on the throne for three years and London was the capital of the largest empire in the world. Shipping ports were busy and mining brought wealth to the country. The ‘Bullnose’ Morris Oxford 2-seater car went on sale with a top speed of 45mph and the long ‘golden summer’ of 1913 with blissful days of cloudless skies seemed to last forever.
Of course there was also a great deal of instability, political unrest and strikes. The suffragettes were at the height of their campaign with Emily Davidson killed at the Epsom Derby as she ran out in front of the king’s horse.
In Keswick in this year, the Alhambra Cinema building was completed, with its ‘artistically designed terra cotta front with bull-eye windows of leaded and coloured glass, and filled in gable with shield and scroll work’ immediately attracting the eye of passers by. This was the start of over 100 years of cinematic entertainment for residents and visitors to Keswick.
Fastforward 106 years to 2019 and with the fantastic ‘Restore the Glory’ campaign well and truly up and running, Active Art, a local company who broaden the exposure and experience of art to children, have been asked to enrich the balcony area of the cinema with some striking artwork. They are delighted to be working along side 16 different groups from the community, including schools, Guide and Scout groups as well as Amy’s Care and the Film society.
“The years building up to 1913” says Claire of Active Art “were a period in history when objects and buildings were so visually important and highly decorative. The organic shapes, simplicity of colour and rich 2D imagery of the Art Nouveau movement was so prevalent. We are so lucky to have these incredibly ornate and decorative patterns within our local cinema and we have instantly been inspired by them.”
Claire and Philip will be teaching each group about the style of the Art Nouveau movement and combing it with an art technique that was used widely at the time. “During this period, wall and ceiling decorations were often made from intricate and detailed plasterwork, showing off wealth and splendour”, explains Philip Wake from Active Art, “however this was very expensive, time consuming and needed skilled craftspeople to install it. A technique was developed in America which involved stamping large sheets of tin with beautiful pattern work; these embossed sheets were then used to replace the costly plaster work, much cheaper but with the same effect.”
Stamped metal ceilings became very fashionable in the late 19th and early 20th century due to its “durable, handsome and fireproof’ qualities, with many patterns and designs available, both plain and elaborate. ‘We noticed that throughout the Alhambra Cinema in Keswick, this technique has been utilized a lot, so wanted to recreate this effect on the balcony.”
The children of Braithwaite School have recently completed their contribution to the project, embossing their own original and detailed designs onto aluminium tin sheets which will go on display at the cinema next year. This process was made all the more meaningful to the youngsters because of its links to the Keswick School of Industrial Arts, set up by Cannon Rawnsley and his wife Edith, to help alleviate unemployment in the area.
Those who attended the school were taught woodwork and metalwork techniques including Repousee, a technique in which metal is hammered from the reverse side to create an embossed low relief design on the front. “The children were fascinated to find out about these local links in history and possible connections to their own ancestors” said Claire “it has been wonderful to revive this technique and create a piece of artwork which will take its own place in history in this great cinema.”