Oriel Machno (Welsh for Machno Gallery) is part of the Remote Making strand of Clear Village projects, and there have been some major developments about this rural experimental community project space. Our team has been partnering with the Penmachno Community Trust and numerous very generous volunteers of all ages to transform this ex-shop and photography studio in the village of Pemachno, North Wales.
As the renovations are nearing completion, we decided it was a good time to have an open day for Oriel Machno, to recruit a core team of volunteers to run the space, and to collaboratively decide on a programme of activities and exhibitions.
The name Oriel Machno, selected in a village-wide poll, is a tribute to a photographic exhibition and publication of the same name that took place in and around the village in 1987. In that same spirit of collaboration, during this open day we asked the wider community what they wanted to see in the space for the next year, as well as how the gallery might change the wider Machno Valley. There was an incredible range of ideas from different age groups and demographics, from developing a film archive of historical footage of farming life in the valley, to skill share days, to displaying products for sale made by local craftspeople, to an exhibition curated entirely by young people.
We also met new makers and creatives from the valley who were drawn to the open day, and recruited a good group of volunteers to steer the direction of the Oriel Machno and help keep it open week to week. This group is a continuation of the incredible volunteers that have already contributed so many hours of their time to bringing OM to a usable state, from plastering walls to sanding floors to washing windows.
We are also exploring ways of connecting this space with the newly renovated Hwb Penmachno, the old school house turned community centre, and using Oriel Machno as a satellite of the Hwb, functioning as its more public-facing side. Oriel Machno is also a facet of Clear Village’s participation in the Human Cities project, providing an example of how collaborative art and design can help empower communities, celebrate their identity, and think radically about their futures.