Hope Pearl Strickland's FVU-commissioned work a river holds a perfect memory (2024) opens at John Hansard Gallery 9 June — 25 July 2026.
a river holds a perfect memory meanders gently across waterways in Jamaica, through leisure activities such as rafting on the Martha Brae River and a night-time boat trip in Falmouth’s bioluminescent Lagoon. In the UK, archival footage tracks industrial impact upon the landscape in Northern England - as water becomes a resource and a reservoir is constructed in Rochdale.
The film considers the interrelation of water, memory and labour and plays with techniques of refusal, errantry and repetition. Through the divergent and overlapping temporalities of working across archival footage, newly shot 16mm and LIDAR scans, the film uses water to track the impact of the industrial revolution and labour migration upon supposedly disparate communities.
A further film, Home Soon Come, will launch on 28 July until 12 September 2026.
--
Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella and Touchstones Rochdale with support from HOME, Manchester. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
