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Nothing remained unchanged but the clouds is an artist book in the fullest sense: a work conceived, shaped, and authored through artistic practice. Developed through sustained collaboration with the community of Grandpré in the French Ardennes, the book traces stories held within German WWI postcards and transforms them into a living archive of memory, material culture, and shared authorship.

The launch will take the form of an illustrated conversation moderated by an arts commissioner familiar with my practice. I will be joined by a small panel of academic, artistic, and language collaborators, alongside voices from Grandpré. Together, the discussion will weave local histories with contemporary perspectives, while reanimating the enduring connection between Manchester and Charleville-Mézières, the departmental capital.

With the support of Alliance Française Manchester, a special display of selected artefacts from Archives+ and the North West Film Archive has been assembled specifically for the evening. These materials document the shared histories between Manchester and the Ardennes, and sit alongside the themes explored in the book.

The evening will conclude with a question-and-answer session, offering the audience an opportunity to engage directly with the panel, followed by the chance to purchase signed, discounted copies of the artist book.

The event is free but please order a ticket via eventbrite

Click here to listen to the episode

Image: Pascal, myself and a member of the Tellier family discussing the postcards I had relating to the return of Emilie Tellier’s body after the war.

Here is a sneak look at the new artist book as I have had an advance from the printer, I’ve now added the tip-ins and stamped the board cover, all looking really grand!

And all artwork ready now for exhibiting in Grandpre starting 15th, where I’ll be showing work made over the last 4 years, including 3D work made in conjunction with Jeffrey knopf, with new pieces premiering in Grandpré and Abbaye de Chéhéry.

If you fancy a copy of the book of this project it can still be ordered at pre-launch price from my website alanjward.co.uk/shop – French orders https://axisprojects.bigcartel.com 

Voici un petit aperçu du livre terminé : l’exemplaire préliminaire est arrivé, j’ai ajouté les pages intercalaires et tamponné la couverture grise. Il est vraiment magnifique. Un magnifique reflet du projet et de la collaboration. Si vous souhaitez toujours commander un exemplaire – sans y inscrire votre nom, bien sûr ! – vous pouvez toujours le commander sur https://axisprojects.bigcartel.com

Vous êtes tous invités

Thank you to all those who have supported this publication to date. Don’t miss out by subscribing in advance, you not only secure a copy at a reduced pre-publication price, but you will also have your name included as a supporter. You will be actively supporting the realisation of this independent, community-rooted publication – ensuring that these shared memories and everyday histories find a lasting place in print and share the story of this place to a wider audience. See here for UK orders and here for European orders.

Coming soon the book of the ‘La Vojo’ project Tout avait changé sauf les nuages

Pre-order here for £26 and have your name included as a supporter of this community-led publication.

Nothing remained unchanged but the clouds is a compelling artist book by Alan J. Ward, developed through a series of residencies and genuine community collaboration in Grandpré, in the French Ardennes.

What began with German WWI postcards evolved into a dynamic, participatory digital archive – a living repository of memory and material culture that places micro-histories at the heart of collective identity.

Through a vibrant interdisciplinary practice spanning visual art, heritage, and archaeology, Ward reclaims the postcard as both artefact and medium – occupying the charged space between image and text, private memory and public history. This book invites readers to navigate fragmented narratives and visual traces that continue to shape Grandpré’s past, present, and imagined futures.

“The book is a collective effort. It gives voice to local memory, through conversational fragments, postcard transcriptions and stories, it is shaped as much by the community as by myself.”  Alan Ward

By subscribing in advance, you not only secure a copy at a reduced pre-publication price, but you will also have your name included as a supporter. You will be actively supporting the realisation of this independent, community-rooted publication – ensuring that these shared memories and everyday histories find a lasting place in print and share the story of this place to a wider audience.

The book will have 226 pages, be soft back with dust jacket. Texts by Alan Ward, Dr Corinne Painter (University of Leeds), and Lara-Marie Hägerling (University of Braunschweig). It is in French, English, and German.

Format 210 x 190 portrait. Full colour throughout with tip-in pages and a unique set of postcard artworks. UK Shipping week of 29th September.

September 2024 residency/visit: see updated project development

Image from La Vojo Returne Grandpré residency in 2023

During the 2023 Memory Studies Association International Conference in Newcastle, I met Ann-Marie Einhaus, Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature at Northumbria University Newcastle. She is project lead on ‘Ephemera and writing about war in Britain, 1914 to the present’. It is a 30-month collaborative research project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

I was invited to write a blog about La Vojo Returne which is now available on their project website here.

International Memory Studies Association conference: Communities and Change
4th – 7th July, Newcastle Upon Tyne

This week, along with Dr Corinne Painter from University of Leeds, I will be presenting a paper about my ongoing project and artist residency in Grandpré, France.