The Caravan Gallery is a mobile exhibition venue and visual arts project run by artists Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale who are on a mission to record the ordinary and extraordinary details of life in 21^st century Britain. Eager to examine clichés and cultural trends, they are particularly drawn to absurd anomalies and curious juxtapositions, typical of places in transition and in the process of reinventing themselves as regeneration fever sweeps the land.

Simultaneously seduced by and suspicious of the rose-tinted tones of tourist information brochures, and frustrated by their yawning omissions, Williams and Teasdale have set out to redress the balance by sidestepping the brown signs and interpretation boards to see what lies beyond. Their findings form the basis of a substantial photographic archive and a highly subjective survey-cum-tour guide to the ‘real’ Britain in the new millennium.

The Caravan Gallery, a diminutive mustard model (circa 1969), with white walls and beech floor on the inside (like a ‘real’ gallery), provides the perfect setting for an evolving exhibition of wry photographic observations made in response to places visited; at any one venue, location-specific work arising from a previous research visit is exhibited alongside other material from the Caravan Gallery archive.

Also displayed are some unique custom made postcards that reveal the reality - and surreality – of contemporary Britain. Although not picturesque in the traditional sense, (Caravan Gallery cards don’t airbrush out Portaloos and are as likely to feature tanning salons as thatched cottages) the appeal of these cards lies in the very familiarity of their subject matter and their celebration of overlooked details; unexpected delights are to be found in the most unpromising situations – and, of course, the reverse is true.

 The Caravan Gallery exhibits at an eclectic range of locations, rural, urban and suburban, from small-scale community events to major festivals and venues. The scope for interaction with an extremely diverse audience is enormous, the inevitable feedback (including enthusiastic recommendations of places worthy of investigation) making a valuable contribution to the project. Having seen the exhibition in the caravan, visitors are invited to complete a Caravan Gallery survey about their locality and lifestyle.

Williams and Teasdale’s travels have inspired a range of merchandise which now includes 2 books, ‘Welcome to Britain – a celebration of real life’ and ‘Is Britain Great? The Caravan Gallery UK Tour’, visitor guides, postcards, greetings cards and gift wrap-cum-posters that show the world from a Caravan Gallery perspective. They also produce limited edition prints and work in other media such as drawing and collage.

Blue Chalet With View by the Caravan Gallery