The Bury Knife Angel

In conjunction with Live from Worktown, fellow director, Peter Firth, and I were delighted to be invited by the Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre to create an audio visual record of local resident’s thoughts and reflections on the Knife Angel during its residency in the town in March 2024.

What is the Knife Angel?

The Knife Angel is a powerfully thought-provoking artwork created from over 100,000 knives that were handed in around the country during an amnesty on these dangerous weapons. Its purpose is to raise awareness and create understanding amongst communities on how to counteract knife crime in their areas. Standing 27 feet high, it imposes a chilling but kind presence, while delivering a clear, unspoken message.

Envisioned by the British Ironwork Centre who commissioned sculptor Alfie Bradley to created at artwork, it has been on tour since 2018 and, with a continuing high demand from places around the UK, it has a busy schedule through 2024.

Our Assignment

Having produced an audio visual record of the Knife Angel’s visit to Bolton in November 2023, our clients at the Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre were keen for Live from Worktown to produce a similar record over a period of two days. Peter’s task was to manage the audio side, interviewing local residents at the site of the Knife Angel to create vox pop comments and record local writers and poets reading pieces inspired by the Knife Angel’s anti-knife crime messages. My job was to photograph people taking part in the recordings, creating a complementary visual record of this activity.

Why Bury

Although demographically one of the wealthier towns in Greater Manchester, Bury faces the same anti-social behaviour challenges found in most towns throughout the UK. In fact, just days before our two-day visit to create the audio-visual, three people were stabbed in the town centre, not far from the Knife Angel location, and that had clearly shocked locals.

It’s an issue being taken seriously by the local council and many members of the Council Leadership team were keen to participate in our interviews, as well as pose by the sculpture for an official photo.

The residency of the Knife Angel was brought about by Bury BID, a Business Improvement District where local businesses collaborate to decide on improvements they want to make in their town centre. The Knife Angel was staffed throughout by employees and volunteers of the BID team.

Thoughts and Reflections

As we found in Bolton, people in Bury were only too willing to talk about the Knife Angel, the feelings it stirred within them, their thoughts on the problems of knife-crime and their reflections on the impact the sculpture will have in the town.

With most people, it created a sense of awe and reverence . . .

. . . even with youngsters keen to see the angel towering over them.

Inspiring poetry and verse

The Knife Angel inspired Bury Irwell Valley Writers to put pen to paper. In a regular meeting at the Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre, they kindly let us photograph their meeting and make recordings of their poems as read out by the writers.

Closing out the residency

Bury BID organised an excellent send-off for the Knife Angel, with a Closing Ceremony held on the evening of the 26th March, where for over 45 minutes, a good-sized crowd listened to touching songs from a young singer and a local school choir, a hard-hitting poetry recital from a young drama student, ending with an address from the Worshipful the Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Councillor Sandra Walmsley.

A bit about Bury

Even on a rainy mid-week day, Bury town centre has a lively buzz, with a complementary mix of independent local shops and cafes rubbing shoulders with a healthy array of national high-street stores.

The town is famed for its market which apparently draws coach loads of shoppers into the town, and with its close proximity to the Knife Angel, it would be nice to think that some of these day trippers visited the sculpture as well.

Acknowledgements

This project for Bury has delivered a 15 minute audio visual record that will be used in local council-driven initiatives with schools and youth groups, continuing to raise the awareness of knife crime long after the Knife Angel departs from the town.

You can view the full audio visual here: Knife Angel Audio Visual

I’d like to extend special thanks to:

Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre
Bury Council Leadership Team
Bury BID
Irwell Valley Writers
The residents of Bury

Funded by UK Shared Prosperity Fund with support from Bury Council