Bamboo Memories

Bamboo Memories is a video created as part of Down At The Bamboo Club, an exhibition commissioned by Picture This conceived in the context of Bristol's celebration of the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery. The exhibition title refers to the legendary Bristol social club and music venue, the Bamboo Club. The club, which ran during the 1960s and 1970s in St Pauls, has acquired symbolic value today for its role in the social scene of the time. As a venue that encouraged social interaction between communities, it was unique at a time when racial prejudices still prevented the employment of non-white drivers or conductors on Bristol buses. The Bamboo Club closed in 1977, but continues to hold powerful resonance today for the ongoing friendships it fostered and the positive affirmation of community relations it represented, and the exhibition uses the club as a metaphor for these values.