‘PRECINCT shopping’ is the subject of a new photographic exhibition in Coventry which is set to provide a fascinating look back at the heart of the city and its people.
It includes social life too, including this rendezvous at the now listed round cafe in Lower Precinct in 1959 (pictured).
Coventry firm The Photo Archive Miners has teamed up with Coventry Art Space, Theatre Absolute and BBC Coventry and Warwickshire radio to produce the exhibition, simply titled ‘Precinct Shopping’.
It uses photographs taken by Coventry City Council architects during the 1960s and onwards, and by legendary Coventry photographer Dr Richard Sadler.
The Precinct was the vision of then city architect Sir Donald Gibson of a modern, pedestrianised shopping centre, which attracted international interest.
The groundbreaking post-war development now attracts interest due to its heritage, and there are plans to redevelop the Upper Precinct in line with Gibson’s original concept, for instance by removing the Precinct escalator.
‘Precinct Shopping’ is co-curated by Photo Archive Miners’ Jason Tilley and Josh Curtis, who is a year 3 photography student at Coventry University.
The exhibition is open at various times from Friday March 16 to Saturday April 1 and is part of Coventry Shop Front Festival, which begins on Friday March 23.
The exhibition can be viewed at Artspace, City Arcadia Gallery, 32 City Arcade Coventry CV1 3AU.
For more information, go to http://www.theatreabsolute.co.uk/shop-front-festival/
