Creative Spaces Burnley

B L U R T With writer and poet Ajaz Qureshi, we present … B L U R T Open mic evenings at the Salon, featuring poetry and spoken word. Join us on the last Wednesday of the month for an informal gathering with likeminded people, share new work, test ideas, meet, talk and discuss in a relaxed and supportive space. For first timers and those with a bit of experience. Sign up on the night or just come and watch. All welcome. B L U R T Wednesday 27 May, 7-10pm The Salon 160 St James’s Street, Burnley, BB11 1NR

Burnley’s Artist Network is a gathering for creative people, who meet up and get together to share work, test ideas and connect in a relaxed and welcoming space. Join us this month to discuss artist community land trusts with Paul Kelly, Community Led Programmes Adviser who is currently working with Super Slow Way as Heritage Manager funded by Historic England. We will explore examples of community ownership, where communities come together to take ownership of land, buildings and heritage assets that are important to them, with examples of national projects. Artist Network Thursday 21 May, 6-8.00pm Gallery OneTwoThree 123 St James’s St, Burnley, BB11 1PP Booking required:

We’re excited to announce our new commission! Zara Saghir reprises last year’s Zed’s Garage, with A—Z, a new exhibition exploring people, place and identity. Zara’s work explores taboo issues within her British South Asian culture, interrogating systems of power, values, and hierarchy. Drawing on her personal experiences to create space for voices that have been overlooked or silenced - helping them to be heard and encouraging advocacy through art. Join us at the exhibition opening: Saturday 18 April, 12.00-4.00pm. A—Z Zara Saghir 18 April until 4 July Thurs, Fri, Sat, 12.00 - 4.00pm Gallery OneTwoThree 123 St James’s St, Burnley, BB11 1PP @zara_s94 @aceagrams

At the Salon … ink - print - run 21 May - 26 June Open Thursday and Friday 12-4pm ink - print - run is a temporary print studio, run by artists at the Salon. Drop by and print with us, learn printmaking techniques or if you’re just curious pop in and have a chat.

L A N D A big thank you to the artists who performed last night at the Salon. @sinngrubb @paul_stan_nataraj @cavedweller71 @sincereintentions and Pat Willan We appreciate those who came along and supported the event. The evening led to ideas for future collaborations and programme. Watch this space, more Salon events to come soon.

L A N D Jasmine Ahmed-Sharif Jason Green Paul Nataraj Andrew Nicholas Ajaz Qureshi Pat Willan - Join us at the Salon for an eclectic evening of curated recorded music, sound art, spoken word and poetry in response to the theme of LAND. Sound credit @paul_stan_nataraj

Coming soon … TOWN to TOWNELEY Burnley Art Open 2026 18 July to 27 September A new open-call exhibition celebrating artists with a connection to Burnley and the wider borough. Artists aged 16 and over who were born, live, work, study, volunteer or have a strong connection to Burnley are invited to take part. Presented in partnership between Towneley Hall Museum & Art Gallery and Creative Spaces Burnley, selected artworks will be exhibited across both sites creating a shared exhibition that connects the historic setting of Towneley Hall with Burnley’s contemporary town centre Gallery OneTwoThree. Exhibition overview, guidance and submission details to follow soon … @burnleycouncil @burnley.co.uk @burnleyleisureandculture @burnley2027yoc @discoverburnley

Zara Saghir T’Same Road (Zed’s Echo) 2026 Painted road sign A—Z 18 April - 4 July Thurs, Fri, Sat, 12.00-4.00pm Gallery OneTwoThree 123 St James’s St, Burnley, BB11 1PP @zara_s94 Photos @jckbltn

In 2025, @zara_s94 created Zed’s Garage at Gallery OneTwoThree. The mock-up temporary workshop space, invited the people of Burnley to decorate domestic items using the traditions and patterns of folk art. Paying homage to Zed’s Garage and included in our current exhibition A–Z, are a series of artworks of street signs found in Burnley. These objects, sourced from local streets and domestic spaces, are transformed into decorated surfaces that incorporate scenic references to Burnley, while connecting visually with the motifs of Pakistani truck art and the landscapes of Pakistan portrayed in British canal barge art. Zara Saghir is a socially engaged artist with community engagement at the core of her work. Born in England to Pakistani parents, her practice explores taboo societal issues within her British South Asian heritage, interrogating power structures, inherited values, and the cultural hierarchies that shape identity and belonging. A–Z Zara Saghir 18 April - 4 July Thurs, Fri, Sat, 12.00-4.00pm Gallery OneTwoThree 123 St James’s St, Burnley, BB11 1PP Photos @jckbltn Funded by @aceagrams

LAND is a live event that celebrates the closing of our current exhibition NORI ORE at the Salon. Artists and writers have been invited to respond and reimagine NORI ORE, a poem about Accrington Brick, creating a new collaborative texted based artwork for the gallery. To accompany this we bring you an eclectic mix of live sound, words and music in response to LAND. An evening featuring writers, poets and sound artists performing live in the gallery. LAND Jasmine Ahmed-Sharif, Jason Green, Paul Nataraj, Andrew Nicholas, Ajaz Qureshi, Pat Willan Saturday 2 May, 6-9pm 160 St James’s St, Burnley, BB11 1NR FREE Part of Burnley Live - a festival of live music taking place this weekend across Burnley town centre, 1-4 May. Paul G Nataraj on bandcamp @sincereintentions @cavedweller71 @paul_stan_nataraj @sinngrubb #discoverburnley #burnleylive #burnleyevents #lancashireevents

Thank you to everyone who came to see NORI ORE performed live on Saturday. There’s not long left to see the work, so why not treat yourself to a day out in Burnley to catch it before it ends. Then pop up the road to see A-Z, by artist @zara_s94 at Gallery OneTwoThree (open Thurs, Fri, Sat, 12-4pm). NORI ORE Jason Green 1 April - 30 April The Salon, 160 St James’s St, Burnley, BB11 1NR NORI ORE is a poem about Accrington Brick, exhibited on the gallery floor, in iron oxide. The work can be read from outside, through the gallery window. Jason Green is an artist, writer, performer, frontman, educator, born in Burnley. He has a studio in Burnley town centre and his work explores Northern identity place and people. @sinngrubb 📷 @jckbltn

Many thanks to everyone who came to our opening on Saturday. A–Z is a mixed media installation by Zara Saghir exploring the intersections of people, place, travel, and identity through the symbolic form of the rickshaw. The work reflects on how migration, whether through marriage, work, displacement – or opportunity, reshapes identity, belonging, and safety. It acknowledges the movement of people between towns, regions, and countries, including workers from diverse cultures who came to places such as Burnley to work in the cotton mills. These workers brought traditions, skills, languages, and ways of life that helped shape the character of the town and its communities as we know it today. Drawing on the visual languages of Pakistani truck art and British canal art, the installation connects distinct folk traditions through a shared ethos of beautifying the everyday. In both traditions, working vehicles became moving canvases where identity, pride, memory, and belonging were expressed through colour, pattern, and decoration. A–Z brings these traditions together to explore how journeys across streets, towns, and national borders shape who we become. @zara_s94 is a socially engaged artist and cultural producer working across mix mediums, with community engagement being at the core of her work. Born in England to Pakistani parents, her practice explores taboo societal issues within her British South Asian heritage, interrogating power structures, inherited values, and the cultural hierarchies that shape identity and belonging. Her work is grounded in the belief that art can be a tool for visibility and empowerment, creating spaces where overlooked voices can be heard and communities can become advocates for social change. A—Z Zara Saghir 18 April - 4 July Thurs, Fri, Sat, 12.00-4.00pm Gallery OneTwoThree 123 St James’s St, Burnley, BB11 1PP Photos @jckbltn Funded by @aceagrams