In June 2026, Memory Dance opened a dedicated venue. A refurbished Victorian unit down Chapel Walk in Sheffield city centre.
A record shop, gallery space, and basement cinema.
Opening Hours (usually)
1200-1700 ——— WEDS to SAT
June 5th - June 28th
WE’LL MISS THEM WHEN THEY’RE GONE - 100 Years of Sheffield Record Shops.
The opening exhibition, WE'LL MISS THEM WHEN THEY'RE GONE, reboots a display held on The Moor, Sheffield back in 2012.
Exploring the history of record shops in the city, from Bradleys to Virgins, it includes original 78 RPM sleeves, old and new record shop bags, related ephemera from lost Sheffield vinyl retailers, alongside prints by designer Simon Robinson responding to the imagery of these old sleeves. And much more...
An ode to vinyl, the art and obsession of record collecting, and a tribute to those who have worked the counters, priced the wax, and built communities of music wherever they may be.
The ground floor will also open its racks for the first time to curated selection of used vinyl for sale drawn from some of the best collections the city has to offer, with a real focus on Sheffield artists and labels past/present to carry the legacy forward.
We also offer a call out to the Sheffield community to come down with anything relating to the history of Sheffield record shops: bags, prints, receipts, photographs, posters…
If suitable, Memory Dance can scan the items on site and hand back a digital file, and we can also hang them in the venue for the duration of the exhibition. And if it is of interest, we can arrange for the items to be deposited into the Sheffield Music Archive for long-term preservation.
In the basement, we also ran a special screening of SHEFFIELD IN THE 60s - 8mm Films from South Yorkshire on a loop.
Credits: Curated by Memory Dance and Sheffield Music Archives, With thanks to Simon and Nick Robinson at the SMA, ST33 website, Easy On The Eye, Snapshot CIC, Cheryl Bailey at Sheffield Archives. Richard Bradley for the stills.
June 10th - June 15th
SOUND IT OUT FOREVER - An Exhibition
Special Sheffield Doc/Fest takeover exhibtion with Jeanie Finlay and her incredible film, Sound It Out. We installed a video wall. Played the film on a loop 47 times. Many hundreds came through, adnw e hosted a special event with Jeanie, Daniel Dylan Wray and a member of the cast…
July 2nd- August 16th
SHEFFIELD CABLEVISION: 1973-76
FREE Exhibition about the local TV Station (1973-76). Kids shows, sports shows, politics, music, comedy and more. Rare archive footage, photos, objects inside.
In 1972 the BBC2 established the Community Programmes Unit with a remit to focus on access and exhibition for local communities using newly accessible portable video technologies like the Sony Portapak. Propelled by activist voices like John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins community video was given its official platform through the BBC series, Open Door. A year later the Conservative government saw the commercial potential of this new medium and granted its first licences for the origination of programmes on local television networks. The first of the stations granted permission in 1972 was Greenwich Cablevision in Southeast London, followed by networks in Bristol, Swindon, Wellingborough, Milton Keynes, and Sheffield.
The Cablevision studios were based at Matilda Street Sheffield and with British Relay money they acquired equipment and studio space which included a production technical area, transmission control room, news and continuity studios. It sat in the frequency band on the fourth channel and coverage was locally restricted to transmission time on community problems, sports clubs, building developments and municipal affairs. The station launched in Sheffield on September 1st 1973. Unfortunately, by 1975 Cablevision did not make a profit, audience reach was not big enough for business investment and so the new Labour government began dissolving the cable television network. Cablevision ceased broadcast on January 2nd, 1976 and with the exception of Swindon Viewpoint, the UK-wide local TV experiment closed operations by the end of the year.
The Cablevision pilot was only fleeting, yet it remains an important moment in the development of moving image culture in Sheffield. In a large city without a major broadcaster Cablevision offered a space for individuals to learn the craft and to work with professional film and portable, low-gauge video equipment for the first time. Cablevision provided motivation and newly discovered technical skills to a group of film-makers who would serve as important agents in the ongoing development of independent film and video production in the region in the 70s and beyond. This exhibition pays tribute to that time, the people involved, and the wonderful programming they made with, and for, the community of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO: Dennis Greatbatch, Joe Brinnen, the late Nevil Brinnen, and all those who gave Sheffield Cablevision its voice.
PHOTOGRAPHY THANKS - ELLA BARRETT, RICHARD BRADLEY
September 11th - October 4th
SHAUN BLOODWORTH: PHOTOGRAPHS & FILMS & THINGS
A retrospective of the Sheffield-based photographer and filmmaker Shaun Bloodworth. With rare prints, little-seen images, record sleeves and documentaries from the world of the early Dubstep scene, electronic music, landscape photography, industrial Sheffield, night-time London and beyond. Shaun left us in 2016, too young. We celebrate his legacy here.
