In 2016 Nova producer Harriet Jones was charged with researching and supplying all of the archive for the Made In Hull opening artworks – here she reflects on a job that kicked off 2017 with pride.
Hull always had a great story to tell and 2017 has proved that Hull’s story is one of triumph over adversity.
Made in Hull, the spectacular light show which brought Hull to a standstill and fired the starting pistol for the City of Culture celebrations, told our city’s story from over the last 80 years.
It took Nova Studios two months to build the archive of films, newspapers and photographs that were used in the installation.
This time last year, I was travelling to and from the Yorkshire Film Archive, in York, dipping in out of libraries, Hull’s History Centre and hammering on the doors of contacts I have from a lifetime of working as a reporter.
I have never worked so hard in all my life to make sure that we met the Christmas Eve deadline.
The moment I knew that all the hard work was worth it was on Wednesday, January 4. It was raining, and cold but that hadn’t deterred thousands of people from travelling to Queen Victoria Square. Amongst them were a group of about eight men, pensioners, who cried as they watched artist Zsolt Balogh’s Made in Hull.
Watching them I realised how important the event was, to the people of Hull, and the success of the City of Culture year.
Thousands of people felt instantly connected to art, culture and their history.
The Team at City of Culture had gauged the city well, and the show set the tone for the year.
Recently, I have been out interviewing the public about their favourite memories of the year and for many of them nothing has topped Made in Hull. It ‘s been great for us that Nova Studios was able to play a role in such an important event for the city.
As 2017 draws to an end people are turning their thoughts to the next chapter for Hull. It reminds me of finishing a good book that I don’t want end; I feel like that about 2017.
An excellent book leaves me wondering about the possibilities beyond the last page.
‘Where do we go from here?’ the current installation lighting up the City Centre, poses the most important question for our city. We all have a part to play in answering that question. And at Nova we look forward to being a part of Hull’s continuing success story.
