Penarth charity shop find inspires exhibition detailing 20-year friendship (From Penarth Times)

Penarth charity shop find inspires exhibition detailing 20-year friendship

8:40am Monday 3rd September 2012 in News

THE true story of a 20-year friendship, discovered within a collection of first day covers picked up in a Penarth charity shop, is the focus of an exhibition which opened in Cardiff this weekend.

Rachel-Helena Walsh, a performance artist originally from southern Ireland, is behind the 'Norman and Judith' exhibition being held at the Milkwood Gallery in Roath.

The exhibition focuses on a series of handwritten letters she found in Penarth's PDSA shop last year, dating from the 1960s through to the 1980s.

The letters, from Norman to Judith - some of which were still sealed - were the inspiration and starting point for Rachel, as she tells the story of the two friends.

And she said she was 'overwhelmed' when she realised all the letters were linked.

"The whole story was hidden away in the back corner of a charity shop in Penarth," she said.

"This story would never have been pieced together unless I had bought them all together.

"I opened one from the 1980s and Norman spoke of a holiday, and in earlier letters he had spoken of planning it. It was like seeing into the future and going back into the past."

The exhibition features the original letters, video documenting, sound recordings and visual mapping.

'Norman and Judith' opened in Milkwood Gallery in Roath on August 31, with and continues until September 8, open to the public daily between 11am and 5pm or by appointment for evening hours.