Village – a bookstore gallery showcasing art from creators far, wide, and those surrounding them – sustained by the addition of a bookstore
The inception of Village
As all businesses go, partners are the people who bring an idea from its state of rumination into a reality. This is the case for Joe Torr and his business partner and peer, Ben Holmes. Having concocted the idea as a means to propagate and cultivate the community surrounding art in the North of England, Torr and Holmes collated their efforts towards formatting Village.
Commonly mistaken for Village Books, Village was founded with the ethos to inculcate art specifically into the periphery of Leeds. Founded in 2012 as both a bookstore and a gallery, Torr – who now manages the business alone alongside Sam, the manager of the store upon the departure of Holmes – gives insight into the intent behind merging two business propositions under a single roof.
«The art scene in Northern England was not as prevalent at the time. There were a few galleries present but, over time, they would shut down. While interest remained toward the arts in the area, there was a lack in cultivation, funding, and maintenance by the local government. One would have to traverse toward bigger cities to immerse themselves in the paradigm».
This was the thesis of Village – a gallery showcasing art from creators far, wide, and those surrounding them – sustained by the addition of a bookstore. Both cyclical and in its own right, a self-sustaining business, this intent would wash over to the city of Manchester with the opening of Village’s second location in the midst of the global pandemic in 2020.
Joe Torr: co-founder of Village
To know Joe Torr is to understand that his interests at heart have always been in the arts. Village’s owner graduated with a degree in art and design from Leeds Arts University. A few years after his graduation, the owner would then go on to establish his brainchild, Village. When asked to elaborate on his background and his appreciation for art, Torr explicates it to be one embedded into the identity of his being.
Having developed an interest in the arts as an adolescent, Torr affirms that his tertiary education further sparked the flames towards the topic. «It was during my time at university when I fell in love with art, and specifically, the publications surrounding them. I could more or less gather an image as to where I could place myself within this realm of creativity».
When prompted on the name of the store as being both singular and titular to the environs in which the business inhibits, Torr explains, «we had wanted the moniker for the business to capture the essence of what we were planning on doing by establishing such a place in the area – essentially creating a village, one led by art».
Further emphasizing the idea of a ‘Village’, the owner makes a remark on the presence of art consumers in the greater Leeds area who are, what he considers to be, without a place to call their own. This, Torr shares, was a sentiment he grew to understand in his teens. Motivated by the lack of congregational art spaces in the city, he wished to format a business in vein with what Village stands for today. Citing Leeds as the closest metropolitan city to his hometown in the North of England, Torr relocated there upon graduating from his secondary education. «When we were younger, my brother and I used to frequent the city while on breaks or over weekends. We decided on moving to Leeds together when I was eighteen».
One store to the next, Village is a space that grows
Having opened its doors ten days before Christmas day eleven years ago, Torr recalls Village’s first location and how he came to choose it. Prior to setting the intent to founding a physical space, Torr delegated his time to selling zines and artworks at art fairs in the periphery made both by himself and artists in the area.
It was through this engagement that Torr was able to gauge the interest in art-related matters – this time, through the eyes of a business owner. As for the first space Village occupied, Torr sets the scene, dating back to the early 2010s. Here, he highlights the presence of the recession that left significant vacancy in commercial spaces across Leeds. Business owners, as Torr adds, weren’t able to afford rent, leading them to vacate the space, thus leaving him with a plethora of lots to choose from. After having negotiated a favorable deal with the owner of the lot, Torr erected Village into a realized store.
Torr pays his dues to the creative individuals that surrounded him, stating that Leeds was the area that inspired him the most. «We founded Village here, in Leeds as an homage to the creativity that surrounds it. It felt natural to set up a business celebrating art to cater to the creative individuals whom I had met at university and those who live in the area». In doing so, Torr not only managed to cultivate the relationships he had with his peers, but also introduced himself, and those in the environs to an outlet of art that was not as present at the time.
Village, Manchester
From its original space, Torr would relocate Village a number of times in Leeds before settling down into the store in which he resides now. Partnering with a peer, whose expertise lies in furniture making, Torr would design and realize furniture for both store locations.
A couple of years into managing the store in Leeds, Torr was enlightened by the idea of establishing a second store, one hour away by car in Manchester. Torr, who has always been engaged in book fairs and art fairs in both the region and abroad shares that his excursions to Manchester over the years began the idea for a second store.
«Over the last five to six years since starting the first Village store in Leeds, I would partake in book fairs hosted in Manchester. It was through this effort that I was able to cultivate relationships with publishers, artists, and creators alike».
It was also during the first lockdowns when businesses were shut – affecting a local gallery in the Manchester periphery – that gave Torr the idea to expand Village into the city of Manchester. He shares, «through the relationships I cultivated with the creative individuals in Manchester, I came to learn that a renowned gallery in the area was being closed down due to the enforced lockdowns at the time. With my know-how of the area and its people, I pursued this endeavor, knowing that it felt right to me at the time. That was how the second location came to life».
This is where Torr emphasizes the updated ethos of Village – where the business acts as a means to support grassroots photographers, contemporary artists, and the literary goods attached to them.
Art and literature coincide at Village
Present across both locations of Village is a similar range of art and literary goods. The only differing factor separating the stores would be the architecture and design of the stores between Leeds and Manchester. When asked to describe the types of items sold in the store, Torr shares some examples – photobooks, zines, magazines, and editions of works from creators that he has come into contact with.
Torr shares that as time goes on and he continues to pioneer Village into the future, he intends on refining the available content at hand. «There’s a final goal at hand and I can see the gist of it, but it’s not necessarily firm yet either. The future awaits me and Village and, in the meantime, I remain in focus on the present matters at hand». Inspired by contemporaries like Printed Matter in New York, Family in Los Angeles, and other online stores catering to similar art-related goods, Torr worked to emulate a similar look, feel, and allure while retaining the essence of what allows Village to stand out – the gallery of artworks and Torr’s individual keenness towards certain art styles.
«I wanted there to be an amalgamation of art coming in from a variety of courses in Village. In the North of England, there is a lack of this. There might be Waterstones or mom-and-pop’ bookstores that sell books, but unlike Village, there is no specific focus to art».
Village: art and its consumers in Leeds and Manchester
When prompted on the growing fascination of art and its consumers in both Leeds and Manchester, Torr explains that it is in the paradigm of responsibilities of an owner to disseminate literary goods and art to the consumers who frequent a bookstore. In the case of Village, Torr shares this sentiment: «Finding new things lies in being exposed to it. If you’ve never seen something, how would you know if you’re into it?».
When asked about the creative scene and the types of content consumed by said individuals in the North of England, Torr shares that the wants and needs are varied. While there is an emphasis on seeking out grassroots, up-and-coming creators, there also exists a crowd of creative individuals seeking out contemporary art and literature. As such, the owner reflects this in the types of items sold in the store.
From carrying goods like Gentlewoman, Lampoon, and AnOther Mag, Torr also stocks books from photographers Alex Prager and Robbie Spotswood. Renown titles live alongside smaller, independent ones, where all are focused on sharing a single sentiment – art. In regard to the business side of things, Torr explains that there is not much emphasis placed on the technicalities of the daily tasks in ‘running’ a business. Rather, the intent is emboldened in the cultivation of the arts and platforming creators of sorts. Hosting the spaces in both locations for book signings, gallery openings, and art-related events, Torr is looking to expand his reach in the North of England to further pioneer the art scene into the future.
Village
0-12 Thornton’s Arcade, Leeds LS1 6LQ, United Kingdom. Existing in both Leeds and Manchester, Village exists as a pioneer in disseminating art and the literary goods attached to it.
