Beyond the Fire: Remembering Oxford Mills ~ Film Screenings & Exhibition launch with Hafsah Aneela Bashir

Beyond the Fire: Remembering Oxford Mills, Performance Space, Manchester Central Library   

Event Details

11-11.30 – Doors open for tea and coffee

11.30-12.30 – Film screening 1: The Great Fire Of Oxford Mills , a poetry film by Hafsah Aneela Bashir. Film screening 2: Beyond the Fire– Remembering Oxford Mills, a documentary featuring community members sharing their memories of the old textile mill followed by a short Q&A. 

­12.30–1 – Refreshments and a chance to mingle and chat

1pm – Exhibition launch in the Oculus Space

‘At the height of the inferno, around 75 firefighters tackled the blaze.’  ~ Manchester Evening News, 7 Aug 2019

What happens to collective memory, history and place when a devastating fire blazes through the heart of a community building, rendering everything to ashes? How does one find strength to carry on when all that is familiar vanishes? 

Join award-winning artist & curator Hafsah Aneela Bashir for two short film screenings and the launch of her exhibition exploring the joys of connection and the impact of loss through the lens of the Oxford Mill 2019 fire in Ashton Under Lyne.

Through film and archive, Hafsah explores the histories of Thomas Mason an English textile manufacturer who built the historic mill in 1851 and Bashir Ahmed, a Pakistani textile manufacturer who operated from Oxford Mills until the 2019 fire – 168 years apart. How does a community honour the stories that make up people and place?

What happens when treasured possessions, secure environments, and a sense of self turn to ashes? What does rebuilding look like when the physical impact on the community is staggering, and the emotional aftermath, deeply felt?

The is a free event with refreshments provided. Please book through Ticket Tailor to confirm attendance. 

About Hafsah Aneela Bashir - Hafsah Aneela Bashir is an award-winning writer, playwright, performer and producer. Winner of the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship 2019, she was a Supported Artist at the Royal Exchange Theatre, an Associate at Oldham Coliseum Theatre and is an Associate Artist with The Poetry Exchange. Her debut poetry collection The Celox And The Clot is published by Burning Eye Books. Passionate about creative health and wellbeing, she is founder of the Poetry Health Service providing poetry panaceas as a tool for connection and healing. She is co-director of Outside The Frame Arts, championing voices outside the mainstream, challenging gatekeepers of knowledge and increasing diverse representation within the arts. She served as a Board Trustee for Manchester City of Literature and is currently the Community Producer at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE & Education Trust.