Proper Bristol – Postcard Competition
Postcards released! – Launch Party 23 May 2019
What a project this has been!
Nearly a year after we first challenged the people of Bristol to produce an alternative vision of the city (Fuck the suspension bridge! Balls to the balloons!) we are delighted to announce the launch of the final Proper Bristol Postcard Collection.
Here they are! Whoop whoop! Get them while they’re hot!
Postcards available to buy in store or online from Stokes Croft China, Jamaica Street, BS2 8JP
The fun doesn’t stop here… Accept our challenge!
Are you missing the competition spirit? Well here’s another challenge for you.
Once you have your postcards we want to see where they end up! Please send them all over the world – from Sydney to Swindon, Cheddar Gorge to the Grand Canyon – and get people receiving them to take a picture of them arriving in these amazing places. Share these pictures with us and let’s get Bristol on the global map!
Email the pictures to email hidden; JavaScript is required, or tag @peoplesrepublicofstokescroft on instagram.
Postcard competition results!
After a successful public ballot which received almost 1,400 votes on paper and online, PRSC is thrilled to announce the final results of the Proper Bristol Postcard Competition.
The final results of this public ballot offer an insight into the preoccupations of the Bristol public.
The winning picture of Big Jeff by Paul Blakemore is a celebration of the people and culture of this city, while a picture of protesters fighting for the city’s cultural future (Demonstrator leading the march in Support of Hamilton House towards Bristol City Council by Giulia Spadafora) made second place.
Winner
Big Jeff (by Paul Blakemore) won 1st prize of £250
Runners up
Demonstrator leading the march in Support of Hamilton House towards Bristol City Council (by Giulia Spadafora)
This important message that the local populace chose images celebrating the city’s people and culture to represent Bristol should not be ignored.
In third and fourth place ‘Surveillance’ by Rebecca Doe and ‘M32 Comfort Break’ by Phoebe Flint, represent the avant-garde, the witty and the marginal – other aspects of Bristol’s cultural identity strongly represented in this competition.
Surveillance (by Rebecca Doe)
M32 Comfort Break (by Phoebe Flint)
Under 18s Winner
Intimacy (Roo Morgan – aged 17)
An award ceremony will be held at PRSC the Space Jan 10th.
The winners of the over 18s and under 18s competition will each receive £250. The runners up will each receive £100.
The other 11 finalists will each receive a £75 gift voucher from Stokes Croft China.
All 16 finalists will receive 200 copies of their postcards as soon as they have been printed.
Here are the finalists
The Proper Bristol Postcard Competition was an attempt to get away from the Suspension Bridge and Balloons vision of Bristol. It wanted to create something more direct and representative of the lives of the people who live here.
We are proud to affirm with the announcement of these finalists, that this competition has done just that.
We would like to thank everyone who entered this competition, everyone who took part in the public vote and all the people who visited the exhibition for making this contest such a vibrant, relevant and interesting project to be a part of.
Morph by the Docks by Steve Lorriman
Easy on consumerism by Carole Fureix
Untitled by Elroy April
Untitled by Emily Parker
Surveillance by Rebecca Doe
Bristol July 2018 by Daniel Durrans
Big Jeff by Paul Blakemore
Demonstrator by Giulia Spadafora
Untitled 2 by Emily Parker
Bristol July 2017 by Daniel Durrans
M32 comfort break by Phoebe Flint
It’s a wall by Dave Beech
The Silence of Maes Knoll by Edward Field
Hoochy Cooch by Arvind Howarth
Untitled by Lee Ramsey
Public Vote now Closed
Thank you so much to the 1500 people who took part in the public ballot to choose the overall winner from the 15 finalists of the Over 18s category. All the votes are now in and we will be announcing the winner here on January 7th.
The winner of the Under 18s Category is Roo Morgan, aged 17 with his beautiful picture Intimacy.
You can see the 15 over 18s finalists, and vote for your favourite to decide the overall winner.
Public Exhibition: 7th – 16th December 2018
You can see the incredible collection of all 370 pictures entered into the competition (across all ages) in a public exhibition.
Location: PRSC (17-35 Jamaica Street, BS2 8JP)
Dates: from December 7th to 16th.
Entry: FREE!
The exhibition is open 1-5pm every day, with a late opening until 8pm on Thursday 13th.
Ballot boxes across the city
The public vote to choose the overall winner is now open. Click on the button above to vote online, or visit one of our ballot boxes to vote on paper at any of the following venues:
- Stokes Croft China Shop – Stokes Croft
- The Old Library – Muller Road
- Alchemy – 196 Gloucester Road
- The Barton Hill Settlement
- Photographique – Bedminster
- St Werburghs Community Centre
- The Park Centre – Knowle West
- Fishponds Library
- Arnolfini – City Centre
- Tobacco Factory – Bedminster
- Knowle West Media Centre
- Co-Lab – Gloucester Rd
- Bristol Tourist Office – City Centre
- Easton Community Centre
- Bocabar – Paintworks,
- Southmead Hospital
Thank you for your submissions – November 2018
This competition is now closed.
PRSC would like to thank everyone for the incredible response that this competition received.
In total we received over 350 entries from over 110 people aged from 10 to 75. Our esteemed judges will be examining this extraordinairy collection of Bristol pictures this week and we will be announcing the finalists at the end of this month.
Watch this space…
The Proper Bristol Postcard Competition
No more Bridge. Easy on the Balloons…
Those pictures of the Suspension Bridge, hot air Balloons and Harbourside.
Those statues of slavers, soldiers and politicians, those demonstrations of wealth and power seep into our very marrow.
Those corporate billboards continue to pollute our view, spilling out their tempting sordid lies.
Like fish we do not notice the water we swim in.
The imagery that a City chooses to portray itself is of the utmost importance.
Those images define the soul of the place and the aspirations of its people.
We call on the Bristol public to help us create a new series of postcards depicting the best and worst of our fair city.
The spirit of the city resides in its people and its culture, much of which comes from the everyday, from the streets, from the backstreet music venues, from the walls of the city. Much of the energy that drives this city comes from below, from those who are unheard, who struggle for voice.
The people of Bristol have always been a difficult mutinous lot. The Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft (PRSC) propose a rethink. This city of street art, pirates, guerrilla gardening and St Paul’s Carnival is richer and more complex than the old set of clichés on offer.
So, what images truly represent the city?
And who should get to decide how Bristol is represented?
Images may be non-narrative, representing buildings and scenes just as they are; they can offer social commentary, street photos or protest; or they can celebrate the people of Bristol in all our colourful glory.
A new story is vital to the process of social change
A new aesthetic is an essential component of that change
Change is afoot. Bristol, if it chooses, is well placed to be at the centre of real change.
If you would like to submit an image, email it alongside your name, age, image title and up to 50 words about your picture.
A postcard produced by PRSC in 2008
We are delighted to reveal the judging panel for the Proper Bristol Postcard Competition:
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Will Self – Journalist, author and supporter of Bristol rehab charity Chandos House
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Claire Doherty – Director of the Arnolfini, Claire champions new approaches to arts in the public realm, focusing on engagement and access.
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Michael Jenkins – Film maker and director of 8th Sense Media, Michael believes passionately in the role of art as an engine for change & understanding.
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Rama Azkoul – Drawing and print student at UWE, Rama considers people to be the heart of Bristol, and believes that art can change the world.
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Colin Moody – Bristol street photographer, Colin seeks out humanity, humour and poignancy in the everyday scenes that pass most of us by.
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Chris Chalkley – Founder and director of PRSC, Chris is a lifelong campaigner for the arts as a tool to give voice to the voiceless in Bristol.
The Dates
- Oct 31 competition deadline
- Nov 1-14 Judging
- Dec 1 Finalists announced and public ballot opens
- Dec 7-17 Public exhibition of all the entries at PRSC – open 1-5pm every day, late opening until 8pm Thursday 13th
- Dec 21 Close of ballot
- Jan 7 Winners Announced
- Jan 10 Award Cermony
The Juice
- Please consider the postcard format when submitting work. Landscape or portrait format are both acceptable.
- Text captions, montages and manipulated images are all welcome. They can be offering hope or be witty or strike at an issue of importance, but they must be relevant to this city.
- The final result will be a 16 image postcard series that tells the story of what Bristol is about and where it is heading. This postcard series will be produced and distributed by PRSC.
- The 16 finalists (including the under 18 winner) will be chosen by our wonderful panel of judges.The overall winners and runners up will be chosen by public vote.
- All submitted images will be exhibited in a public exhibition in December 2018.
- There is also the possibility that a book will be produced later in the year presenting the collated submissions.
Prizes
- All 16 finalists will be included in the Proper Bristol postcard series and will each receive 200 copies of their own images as postcards.
- There will be one over 18 first prize, and one under 18 first prize of £250 cash.
- There will be 3 runner-up prizes of £100 cash.
- Each of the remaining 11 finalists will receive a £75 voucher from Stokes Croft China.
T&Cs
- The competition is free to enter and open to everyone.
- Send your entries to: email hidden; JavaScript is required
- Please include up to 50 words describing your postcard.
- We have an under 18s category, so if you are under 18, tell us your age in your submission email.
- No more than 5 entries per person please!
- Deadline for submissions is Midnight on October 31st
- Images to be submitted as Jpegs only & must be high enough quality to produce an A3 sized print.
- Entry of this competition entitles PRSC to reproduce the submitted image in exhibition and publicity materials.
- The 16 winning entries will be available to PRSC to reproduce and sell as postcards and posters.
By entering this competition, I understand that if my image is one of the 16 winning entries, I am giving PRSC the permission to reproduce the image, fully, partially or with alterations, for commercial and for non-commercial use.
Stokes Croft portrait by Claudio Ahlers for the 24H OUR CITY project
Easton postcard from Colin Moody
This Project has been generously supported by Journey to Justice Bristol
