Byker Phoenix: Long-forgotten community magazine relaunched
A special edition of a long-forgotten community magazine has been been published after decades out of print.The volunteer-run Byker Phoenix reported on life in the east end of Newcastle through the 1970s and 80s, covering everything from political events to petty grievances.Artist and filmmaker Harry Lawson decided to created a new, one-off edition of the magazine after coming across some old copies in an archive, with his contemporary edition interspersing original articles with newly-written pieces about how Byker has evolved in recent years.The special edition forms part of his exhibition, Stepney Western, at Newcastle Contemporary Art (NCA).
The exhibition is a culmination of Mr Lawson's prolonged focus on Byker.The Sunderland-born artist filmed an experimental documentary which casts Newcastle's inner city as the Wild West, focusing on group of young horse riders from Stepney Bank Stables who struggle in mainstream education settings.
Alongside a continuous screening of the documentary, the exhibition also features a variety of archive photographs of Byker through the years showcasing what Mr Lawson calls a "frontier narrative"."It's the idea that all land is up for grabs - and then there's a kind of tussle for that land and the power that comes with that," he said."Byker is a place that's had this cyclical change."You had this particular moment of change and upheaval in the 70s and 80s with the demolition of terraced housing and creation of the Byker Wall, and now you have a new, but very different kind of change, which is quieter and way less dramatic."It's not a unique story, it's a gentrification story."
It was while Mr Lawson was looking for archival photographs at Ouseburn Trust that he came across old copies of the Byker Phoenix magazine."I was struck immediately by how genuinely community-focused it was," he said.The first edition he read included a think-piece about how Finnish photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen had captured the community with her landmark images, alongside an article featuring a local woman's complaints about the rise in damp on the same page."To me, it's funny and brilliant," Mr Lawson said: "If the people of Byker were feeling it, it would go in the Phoenix. "So then you have these really funny juxtapositions between political commentary and really petty grievances - and I think that's brilliant."The Phoenix ran in the 1970s and 80s, and had a brief comeback in the early 00s.Mr Lawson tracked down some of the people behind the original Phoenix publication and asked if he could make a one-off special edition for his exhibition to which they agreed.
Instead of curating an entirely new edition, Mr Lawson's "time-morphing" edition mixes articles and adverts from 50 years ago with new pieces about modern-day Byker and the current Stepney Western exhibition at Newcastle Contemporary Art (NCA).When choosing the previous articles, he said he was drawn to those "about impending change in the area, and bringing into sharp focus how the community has responded to change over the years".Mr Lawson also included articles and illustrations which made clear how the Phoenix struggled to keep going, amid financial difficulties and a lack of volunteers."There's this nod on the final page, on whether someone is willing to pick up the mantle of the Phoenix."It would be amazing if someone did pick it up."I think without budget it's a hard task, but it's a little question to the reader."Stepney Western runs at NCA until 26 April.
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