For Sormani Vella’s opening exhibition, Alessandra Sormani recreated the infamous local nightclub Blitz. Throughout the 1990s, the club operated opposite the Sormani Vella space in the basement of the Royal Pier Hotel. Blitz closed along with the rest of the hotel in 2001. After years lying derelict, the building has now been converted into upmarket flats.
Alessandra Sormani reconstructed a sized-down version of Blitz based on newspaper archives, photographs and stories she collected. Combining archival material with her own memories of growing up in Clevedon, her installation was both a replica of a lost local institution and a reenactment of her own teenage experience. The exhibition also included photographic work showing remnants of the club’s decor before the building was redeveloped.
Exhibition: 17 September–8 October 2017, Thursday–Sunday, 2–7pm
Opening Saturday, 16 September, 6–9pm