A Maidstone based artist Cathy Rogers and her brother John Rogers, a writer and filmmaker, are producing an interactive two-day event for Architecture Week, ¡Reframing Maidstone¢, on Saturdays 16^th and 23^rd June. For the event they are asking people to join in.

Reframing Maidstone is an exploration of the town centre led by an ¡archive film exchange¢, in which participants are asked to film certain areas of the town on mobile phones. Participants will be sent a clip of archive film which relates to a site in the town, to their mobile phones.

The idea is that they then find that place, film the same part of the town on their phones as it appears today and send it back to the Town Hall where the incoming clips will be displayed on large plasma screens. Throughout the event these screens will be building a video map of the town created from the exchange of the participants¢ picture/video messages and the archive film clips.

John and Cathy explain "this is an event in which images of contemporary Maidstone will be exchanged with images from the past. Members of the public will explore Maidstone gathering images on their mobile phones (or camera if necessary) which will be exchanged for archive film clips from the Council Chambers at the Town Hall. The images exchanged will be displayed as a video map inside the town hall. Some highlights from the clips include; The building of the bypass, Fremlins before it was a shopping centre, the Maidstone Sweet Factory and an unusual cycle challenge from 1931, plus more surprises.

Everybody is welcome and we are keen for as many people to participate as possible, just bring your mobile phone and a willingness to participate in a challenge to find the location of the archive clips, like a cinematic treasure hunt."

The project has been commissioned by Laura Francis and Louise Knight on behalf of Maidstone Borough Council as part of Art at the Centre. Art at the Centre¢s funding of Reframing Maidstone was made possible because of a new £5000 grant awarded by the Arts Council England, South East.

For press inquiries contact Cathy Rogers on 07958 669255 or John Rogers on 07828 336034