Islington Mill is a former cotton spinning mill in Salford, very close to Manchester’s city centre. Unlike much of Manchester's industrial heritage which has been converted into loft apartments, Islington Mill is now home to over 50 artists studios, two art galleries a recording studio and club space. It’s one of the few creative spaces in Salford, and has evolved over ten years to become the cultural haven that it is now.
It all started in 1994 when Bill Campbell, returned home to Salford after studying fashion at Central St Martin’s. He found an abandoned mill opposite his council flat and subsequently saved, begged and borrowed to buy the place in 2001.
Artists came in, created new work and did site specific shows, the likes of Susie MacMurray’s Stratum (www.susiemacmurray.co.uk) were the result. Meanwhile, Bill converted The Engine House at Islington Mill into a home, (see Elle Decoration Sept 03) before tackling the Mill itself.
By 2006 he’d created 50 spaces of varying sizes for artists and designers to set themselves up permanently. Residents in the building now work with everything from ceramics to welding and the web, the summer of 2007 saw the launch off Islington Mills’ own Art Academy, an alternative education project for students.
Other projects onsite include the Bureau Gallery (www.bureaugallery.com),
1234 Recording studio and Sounds from the Other City (www.myspace.com/soundsfromtheothercity) as well as an emerging performance space (the club space).
The club space started out in 2005, when numerous friends around the Mill threw the first of many weird and wonderful events, including the rebirth of Club Brenda
(www.myspace.com/clubbrenda). Gradually, the Mill started to entertain more and more impromptu gigs and parties, until it became a fixture on the underground club kids calendar, and a band favourite: Fire Engines, The Whip, Clark, The Thermals, Mayming, Ariel Pink, No Age, Anni Rossi, Biting Tongues,Ex-Models, Simon Joyner, The Nightingales, Agaskodo Teliverek, Koen Holtkamp, The Earlies, Alexander Robotnick, Atlas Sound, Magic Arm, Olafur Arnalds, Triclops, Will Guthrie, Pausal, Drums of Death, Diane Cluck, White Magic, Acid Mothers Temple, Cylob, and Ghost have been amongst the guests.
2008 carries on with continuing trials and experiments as more parts of the building are set up to create a genuinely mixed use experience.