B Atherton
Loss & grief for things like beloved spaces.
the idea of sweeping the slate clean, like there's nothing here of worth.
As part of London Festival of Architecture, join us for this symposium exploring how we can carve out permanent space for culture & community to belong in our cities.
Our cities are not blank canvases, yet regeneration too often treats them as if they are – clearing and displacing with the promise of value rising from the debris.
With creative and community spaces under increasing pressures nationally, Croydon-rooted artist-led space Turf Projects convenes an urgent symposium of organisations navigating this precarity.
Drawing on real-world experiences, we’ll dream of ways to embed permanent spaces for culture and community in our cities, asking how spatial decision making shapes who gets opportunities and feels valued.
What does it take to carve out space to belong – and keep it?
The symposium is part of Turf Projects’ wider PermaCulture campaign, advocating for a permanent home for Turf and grassroots culture in Croydon.
Turf is currently facing displacement by an impending Westfield development.
Support our quest for a permanent home for art in Croydon here.
A panel discussion between cultural organisations who are experiencing or have experienced precarious spaces including Turf, RESOLVE Collective, Sister Midnight, Art Hub Studios & House of Annetta.
We’ll discuss:
Sister Midnight have spent the past few years navigating the journey of creating a community-led space in Catford.
They’ll talk through how they got from A to B, the challenges you might face when trying to set up a permanent space, as well as some practical approaches on how to tackle them.
ABOUT RESOLVE:
RESOLVE is an interdisciplinary design collective that combines architecture, engineering, technology and art to address social challenges. They have delivered numerous projects, workshops, publications, and talks in the UK and across the world, all of which look toward realising just and equitable visions of change in our built environment. RESOLVE have recently taken on a space at Tipping Point East, a circular construction hub based in Newham, East London bringing together material reuse, low-carbon construction, training and cultural activity to support a just transition in the built environment.
ABOUT ARTS COLLECTIVE NORTHAMPTON:
Arts Collective is a contemporary art organisation rooted in Northampton and shaped by artists, now in a permanent space after many years in different spaces. Supporting artists at every stage of their careers, they provide free public access to contemporary art and place artistic practice at the centre of civic life. Their work recognises contemporary art as vital cultural infrastructure, shaping public space materially, socially and politically.
ABOUT HOUSE OF ANNETTA:
House of Annetta is a space for learning about the ways in which ownership of land shapes our lives and the world around us. They build infrastructure for movements, cultivate radical imagination and practice cultures of care. The project is a building site in the former cybernetic home of beekeeper, artist, activist and publisher Annetta Pedretti., House of Annetta aims to benefit individuals, groups, and organisations committed to spatial justice, especially those negatively impacted by the financialisation of land and property.
ABOUT SISTER MIDNIGHT:
Sister Midnight is an upcoming community-owned music venue and radio station based in Catford. Sister Midnight’s missing is to elevate artists around Lewisham and become a creative hub for all across SE London. They’re driven by belief in the power of music to uplift, unite and affect positive change. By working at a grassroots level and always democratically, Sister Midnight hope to make this a space for belonging, solidarity and experimentation.
