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Premiere of Pompey accent exhibition is a success

October 31, 2018

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The premiere of an exhibition into the Pompey accent ‘brought together people from all walks of life’, according to a Havant & South Downs College lecturer.

Thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Havant & South Downs College (HSDC) English and Media students have been working with film production company Millstream Productions to make a short documentary film tracing the history of the city’s accent and dialect.

The documentary forms part of an exhibition at the city’s leading contemporary art gallery Aspex, that features an interactive Portsmouth accent installation created by renowned artists Heinrich and Palmer. The premiere of the exhibition took place on 18 October.

The students have worked with the artists to produce a photo booth-style exhibit that will give visitors the opportunity to experience what it is to be a proper Pompey speaker.

Steve Murray said: “The launch event at Aspex was successful and brought together people from all walks of life to celebrate Portsmouth and its accent and dialect.

“Visitors enjoyed watching the students’ documentary film focusing on the language of the city and were also able to experience what it is to be from Portsmouth in our interactive photo booth installation created by Heinrich and Palmer.

“It was particularly pleasing to be able to include performance poetry from Joe McQuilken and rap from Parv in an event designed to celebrate the beauty of language in all its forms.”

The exhibition runs until 25 November and members of the public can visit the gallery from Wednesday to Sunday, 11am – 4pm.