Art / Exhibitions
Glastonbury goes underground
Underground arts space The Loco Klub seems more like a labyrinth of abandoned catacombs than the home of a vibrant new art exhibition. In the best possible way, of course.
Photographs of Glastonbury through the years will be on display in the dark rooms of the Invisible Circus’ Loco Klub as part of the exhibition Pilton Pop, which opens on Friday, March 18.
Alongside the exhibition, local Bristol bands will perform and a pop-up Boneyard Bar will serve up pints of cider.
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The exhibition is the creation Tess Lee Wilson, who works for both the Loco Klub and the Glastonbury Festival, and her co-worker Jaz House.
In the spirit of Glastonbury, the Klub is absolutely unpolished and unpretentious. Dirt, wood chippings and loose stones litter the floor. The walls are bare with piles of stones stacked against them.
“When someone gets a hold of a place like this, they often try to polish it and make it trendy,” says Tess. “But this place is steeped in history – it’s part of its charm.”
The effect is striking. Photos of topless festival-goers and old Glastonbury stages hover over the cold stone walls, with short tree trunks propping up the festival’s famous signs. “Danger, Laser Hazard, Keep Out” says one. “The public need to stay out of the festival site as it is a very busy and dangerous place,” reads another.
Hand painted rubbish bins, also from Glastonbury, add some colour to the otherwise grey and brown colours of the Klub. Twinkling fairy lights stream across the ceiling, giving the space an otherworldly ambiance. It’s thrilling, as if someone set up a fair in an abandoned dungeon.
The Klub, which lies under the Engine Shed at Temple Meads, remains mostly unchanged from the days when locomotive trains dumped their ash into the underground space between trips.
“When we got it, it was covered in ash,” says Tess. “This is the cleaned-up version.”
Read more: Review: The Stick House, The Loco Klub