Super Duper St Annes F.C. with Jonathan Kelham
April 2022
Artist Jonathan Kelham playfully tackled the burning question of why the parish of St Anne’s in Bristol, has no football team.
Welcome to the rise of the fictional football team Super Duper St Anne’s F.C. The work is a culmination of a year’s research into amateur league football and its culture, all overseen by Kelham as player-manager-grounds person-physio.
Through the language of fan-centred, DIY aesthetics, humour and playfulness, the project ran an open dialogue with residents about their wants and needs for a team and whether this could be a reality in the future.
Football is a universal language and has broad popular appeal and is great! But more importantly, it’s a way to get a varied number of people thinking and discussing the wider issues involved in the demise of any grassroots teams in St. Anne’s. Especially at a point when the social, well-being, and health benefits that a football club can provide are so needed.
– Jonathan Kelham, 2022
Throughout his time in the project space, the artist hosted wooden-rattle making workshops, foosball tournaments, talks, and even a local footy game for visitors to get involved in.
Turning St Anne’s House into the home of football, the project space was used as the headquarters, and included merchandise, research based artwork, and flags to mark the space.
Events and activities that happened
Foosball Tournaments
Over two weeks there were public foosball tournaments for people to come along to and play with the artist in the Headquarters of Super Duper St Anne’s F.C.
Wooden Rattle Workshops
During the Spring Thing, the artist held workshops to make supporters wooden rattles so they could make some noise at the big kick off at the end of the season.
Exhibition
The Headquarters of Super Duper St Anne’s F.C. The doors were open across the project for people to come in, and be interactive with the art project.
Artist Talk
Jonathan hosted an evening event with a talk exploring and sharing his overall practice and fascinations.
Final Footy Match
On Saturday 30 April you were invited to put on your Super Duper St Anne’s F.C. kit, get your studs out and join for a kick-about at the home of football, St Anne’s Park. The day was a chance to meet others interested in local football in St Anne’s whilst enjoying a day of activity.
Find out more about the work
The government announced in March that it planned to regenerate 116 grassroots football facilities across England as part of its commitment to levelling up access to physical activity across the nation.
So far Knowle West’s football club, Park Knowle F.C. – the largest disability football club in Somerset – has received £82,500 in funding from the UK Government.
Jonathan Kelham, recipient of a WEVAA R&D Bursary, reflects on Super Duper St. Anne’s F.C., a project created during a residency at Bricks.
Super Duper St Annes F.C. with Jonathan Kelham
Jonathan [B.1986 East Riding of Yorkshire] is an artist, researcher and educator based in Bristol. He has completed Postgraduate Qualifications at Birmingham IAD and University of Essex [UK.], and is currently undertaking an Art Practice PhD at UCA.
He has shown internationally including: Dundee Contemporary, Exeter Phoenix, Spike Island, John Hansard Gallery & The Netherlands Institute For Sound And Vision.
Jonathan’s practice explores the construction of a particular romanticised, melancholic, marginalised, and self-deprecating notion of Englishness.
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