Uncultured Creatives

Uncultured Creatives Uncultured Creatives is a collaborative creative practice between Artist Jamie Holman and Curator Alex Zawadzki.

The Uncultured Process: Research, Respond, ReimagineWe aren’t designers. We’re Cultural Archaeologists.Our Method:Resear...
16/02/2026

The Uncultured Process: Research, Respond, Reimagine

We aren’t designers. We’re Cultural Archaeologists.

Our Method:

Research → Uncover the ‘Future Folklore’ of our communities 

Respond → Co-create with young people, their vision, their spark

Reimagine → Take what’s hidden or forgotten and bring it into the light

Like Mery Shelley, we assemble fragments and breathe new life into them.

The Fusebox, Blackburn: An 1895 power station’s bones (original brickwork, gantry crane) grows contemporary flesh (AI artwork, LED screens) and the soul of young people’s creativity.

The building that first powered Blackburn now hums with the sound of the future.

Mill workers became ravers. Power stations become youth hubs. Heritage becomes contemporary.

This is the work. This is the Uncultured Way.

The Uncultured Way: Research, Response, ReimagineWe aren’t designers. We’re Cultural Archaeologists.Our Method:Research ...
09/02/2026

The Uncultured Way: Research, Response, Reimagine

We aren’t designers. We’re Cultural Archaeologists.

Our Method:
Research → Uncover the ‘Future Folklore’ of our communities
Response → Co-create with young people, their vision, their spark
 Reimagine → Take what’s hidden or forgotten and bring it into the light

Like Mary Shelley, we assemble fragments and breathe new life into them.

The Fusebox, Blackburn: An 1895 power station’s bones (original brickwork, gantry crane) grows contemporary flesh (AI artwork, LED screens) and the soul of young people’s creativity.

The building that first powered Blackburn now hums with the sound of the future.

Mill workers became ravers. Power stations become youth hubs. Heritage becomes contemporary.

This is the work. This is the Uncultured Way.

FUSEBOX LAUNCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF CURRENTApril 2025The 1895 power station that first electrified Blackburn now hums wi...
16/12/2025

FUSEBOX LAUNCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF CURRENT


April 2025


The 1895 power station that first electrified Blackburn now hums with the energy of young people’s.


Nine months construction. Years dreaming. £3.1m invested. Fusebox is live, a cutting-edge Employment Skills Hub.
400 young people weekly. Dedicated Maker Zone with STEAM equipment. Training academy for vocational qualifications. Open events space. Gaming Zone. AI and VR learning. One-to-one support.


The launch united everyone: Hannah Allen, Leon Crosby, Mayor Brian Taylor, Chair Wayne Wild MBE, Andrew Graham MBE (who started this dream), and the young people whose creativity shaped every wall, window, and pixel on the massive LED screen.


From unused heritage building to thriving hub. 5,000 young members from every Blackburn ward. Proving what’s possible when communities invest in the next generation.


That current from 1895 still runs through these walls, now powering the future.


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Photo , &

uk


signpost restoration


Hannah Allen

FUSEBOX: HERITAGE COLLIDING WITH CONTEMPORARY PRACTICEMonths of co-design with young people complete. Three artistic int...
08/12/2025

FUSEBOX: HERITAGE COLLIDING WITH CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE


Months of co-design with young people complete. Three artistic interventions transform this Victorian power station, inspired by Mary Shelley’s vision of electricity bringing life, proposing the current made here 150 years ago returns as sentient AI to co-design its birthplace’s restoration.


STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
Bespoke arched windows inspired by Blackburn College’s Victoria Building (which commemorates electricity’s arrival in Blackburn). Reopened sealed heritage archways between Fusebox and Youth Zone, collaborating with Lightworks to blend heritage design with contemporary aesthetic.


NEON SIGNAGE & LIGHTBOX
Rear ‘Electricity Works’ sign fully restored through reworking, cleaning, painting, recasting. Industrial neon honors electrical heritage and modern impact. Co-designed lightbox wall on stairway captures young people’s future heritage.


GIANT LED SCREEN
180 LED panels form massive screen in double-height Event Space beneath new mezzanine, immersive digital canvas for young people’s work, gaming, esports, films, presentations. Fusebox logo inlaid in floor below.


Every element sympathizes with the building’s original use, honoring what was while empowering young people to create what comes next.


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uk


signpost restoration


Hannah Allen
Photo &

WONDERFUL ELECTRIC: FINDING THE SPARK WITH YOUNG PEOPLEOctober 2023, and we’re standing in Blackburn’s first electric po...
01/12/2025

WONDERFUL ELECTRIC: FINDING THE SPARK WITH YOUNG PEOPLE


October 2023, and we’re standing in Blackburn’s first electric power station from 1818. The current that started here is still live, still running through the walls. Can’t be switched off. There’s something in that.


We partnered with Blackburn Youth Zone to reimagine this historic Fusebox building. Not just designing a space, but co-creating with the young people who would actually use it. Youth Zone members became the researchers, the artists, the visionaries.


AI technology workshops. Museum visits across the region. Art installations. Inspiration gathering. The young people explored what it means to find your creative spark in a building that once powered an entire town.


Incredible things have happened here. This is where the switch was thrown to light Blackburn for the very first time. Now it’s about young people finding their own spark. Their ideas became the foundation for the entire £3.1m transformation.


The ‘Wonderful Electric’ event brought community and business leaders together. Poet Jennifer Reid performed an elctricty inspired. We presented our vision. Andrew Graham MBE, founder of the Youth Zone, told us what we showed was quite simply amazing. But really, it was the young people who showed us the way.


This was their project from day one.


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WAKES WEEK POP-UP MUSEUM: BLACKPOOL’S WORKING CLASS HERITAGE We designed and produced a touring pop-up exhibition celebr...
17/11/2025

WAKES WEEK POP-UP MUSEUM: BLACKPOOL’S WORKING CLASS HERITAGE


We designed and produced a touring pop-up exhibition celebrating the tradition of Victorian millworkers donning their Sunday best to crowd onto trains for seaside holidays in Blackpool during the annual Wakes Weeks from 1900-1939.


Featuring photographs and postcards collected by academic and historian Robert Leach, alongside costumes and memorabilia from the period. The exhibition showcased over 50 years of archive materials documenting the working classes at play in this iconic Lancashire resort.


A collaboration between The British Textile Biennial and Showtown Museum, the traveling exhibition visited family festivals, care homes and community events across Lancashire, gathering stories and memories before becoming an online archive.





IN LOVING MEMORY OF WORK: PROTEST PLATES WITH CRAIG OLDHAMDuring the 2024 , we partnered with designer Craig Oldham to b...
03/11/2025

IN LOVING MEMORY OF WORK: PROTEST PLATES WITH CRAIG OLDHAM


During the 2024 , we partnered with designer Craig Oldham to bring his powerful miners’ strike project to Uncultured HQ. A hands-on workshop that turned history into something you could hold.


Inspired by Craig’s visual record of the 1984-85 UK miners’ strike, we invited our community to create their own protest plates using vinyl designs. These commemorative plates were symbols of solidarity during one of Britain’s most significant industrial disputes, decorative objects that carried weight, meaning, and defiance.


During the National Festival of Making 2024 our studio became a space for creative resistance. Two sessions, accessible venue via step access, and a room full of people transforming blank plates into personal statements. Not just craft, conversation about work, community, and standing up for what matters.


Looking back on this collaboration with , a reminder of why we do what we do: bringing people together through creativity, making culture accessible, and keeping important stories alive.






DECADE: 10 YEARS OF ADIDAS SPEZIALWe designed and delivered a week of workshops supporting Gary Aspden’s incredible Deca...
13/10/2025

DECADE: 10 YEARS OF ADIDAS SPEZIAL


We designed and delivered a week of workshops supporting Gary Aspden’s incredible Decade exhibition, commemorating the tenth anniversary of his Spezial range for adidas.


Working with Blackburn Museum to design and deliver a participatory education programme, we teamed with Bluntshank to give bespoke making actvities to schools and. Colleges in Garys home town of Darwen. Young people were able to explore the intersection of heritage, community and contemporary culture that defines both the brand and our shared Lancashire roots - from the Blackburn trainer to the Pleckgate tracksuit, Gary’s vision has consistently championed authentic Northern narratives, bringing world-class cultural events to the towns that shaped him. All the students from schools and colleges received a free Decade book from Gary, made bespoke mini Blackburn’s with Bluntshank and hung out with Brooksy, Gary and the team for the week of the exhibition.


The free exhibition ran May 17-26 2024 in Darwen town centre, coinciding with Darwen Live festival. A powerful example of using culture to drive regeneration, attracting thousands of visitors while supporting local charity Nightsafe.


Another reminder that the best stories come from the places that made us. Culture without permission. Heritage with meaning. Small towns with loud voices.






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aspden

DECADE: 10 YEARS OF ADIDAS SPEZIALWe designed and delivered a week of workshops supporting Gary Aspden’s incredible Deca...
13/10/2025

DECADE: 10 YEARS OF ADIDAS SPEZIAL


We designed and delivered a week of workshops supporting Gary Aspden’s incredible Decade exhibition, commemorating the tenth anniversary of his Spezial range for adidas.


Working with Blackburn Museum to design and deliver a participatory education programme, we teamed with Bluntshank to give bespoke making actvities to schools and. Colleges in Garys home town of Darwen. Young people were able to explore the intersection of heritage, community and contemporary culture that defines both the brand and our shared Lancashire roots - from the Blackburn trainer to the Pleckgate tracksuit, Gary’s vision has consistently championed authentic Northern narratives, bringing world-class cultural events to the towns that shaped him. All the students from schools and colleges received a free Decade book from Gary, made bespoke mini Blackburn’s with Bluntshank and hung out with Brooksy, Gary and the team for the week of the exhibition.


The free exhibition ran May 17-26 2024 in Darwen town centre, coinciding with Darwen Live festival. A powerful example of using culture to drive regeneration, attracting thousands of visitors while supporting local charity Nightsafe.


Another reminder that the best stories come from the places that made us. Culture without permission. Heritage with meaning. Small towns with loud voices.






h.e.r.e.d
aspden

TURNING THE MUSEUM INSIDE OUTWhen Blackburn Museum closed for renovations in 2024, we partnered with the team at BM&AG t...
01/09/2025

TURNING THE MUSEUM INSIDE OUT

When Blackburn Museum closed for renovations in 2024, we partnered with the team at BM&AG to transform the town into an open-air gallery.


Jamie worked closely with the museum curators, we selected 14 remarkable items from their collection including Jamie’s favourite paintings and ceramics to vintage Bollywood movie posters and a historic 1907 Blackburn Rovers jersey, re presenting them as a series of street banners throughout the town center.


The result was a vibrant, walkable art trail that made the museum collection accessible to everyone, turning Blackburn’s streets into a living gallery space. A creative solution that kept culture alive and visible during the museum’s transformation.



QUIVER: COMMEMORATING THE WORLD’S FIRST WESTERN FILMWe launched a new public artwork celebrating Mitchell and Kenyon’s p...
25/08/2025

QUIVER: COMMEMORATING THE WORLD’S FIRST WESTERN FILM


We launched a new public artwork celebrating Mitchell and Kenyon’s pioneering 1899 film “The Kidnappers” - now recognized as the very first Western. 40 pewter cast arrows installed on Northgate, Blackburn, marking the historic location where cinema history was made.


Working with master fabricator and framer Dan Edwards at Darbyshires London, we created limited edition pewter arrows designed to look like they’ve been fired into the wall. Participatory archery to understand the flight of arrows, shared meals that included the ingredients sent by Abraham Lincoln to feed starving weavers and a 1950s-style comic telling the story through time travel.


From studio visits to launch events, we celebrated Blackburn’s rich cultural heritage - from mill poetry to the founding of the football league. An extraordinary story connecting our industrial past with the birth of the Western genre, proudly told on behalf of our community. Thanks to our research, now recognised as the first ever western.


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