‘What are the new forms of production that allow for new forms of resistance and envisage the possibility of a revitalization of the emancipatory project to which artistic practices can make a decisive contribution (…) Every critical gesture is quickly recuperated and neutralized by the forces of corporate capitalism.’ Chantal Mouffe, Agonistics: Thinking the World Politically
This event will mark the start of Eva and Rebecca’s critical evaluation of 9 years working collaboratively and will form part of a reflective manual, which they hope will serve as an instruction of and toolkit for a model of best practice.
Join us with your questions which will help form part of a public discussion led by Eva and Rebecca (Peoples Bureau) with Ele Belfiore (Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Loughborough University who has published extensively on the belief in the transformative power and the presumed ‘social impacts’ of the arts) who will share lunch round a table with other invited socially engaged artists and practitioners. The discussion will take place around Join – a table designed and installed by artist Michael Giambrone.
Participating artists and practitioners include: Scott Burrell, Head of Programme, Create London; Amy McDonnell, curator, writer, researche; Anthony Luvera, artist, writer, educator, Course Director, MA Photography and Collaboration, Coventry University; Ayisha De Lanerolle, Director, The Conversation Agency; Barbara Steveni, artist, Organisation and Imagination formerly APG, Artist Placement Group; Giota Alevizou, Open University; Jane Wells, Programme Manager, Tate Exchange; Kirsty White, curator and writer, the Swiss Church; Morven Mulgrew, artist; Sally Labern, artist, The Drawing Shed; Sandra Lane, artist; and Stella Dufy, writer and theatremaker, co-director The Fun Palaces.
The day will include an installation of work made during Peoples Bureau’s Unearthing project at Tate Exchange, which took place in 2017 in collaboration with Shane Waltener and Stave Hill Eco Park, and which was recently reworked as part of a residency at Danielle Arnaud Gallery.
There will be performances by Zoe Gilmour and Shane Waltener. A soundscape will be delivered by sound artist Lee Berwick. Lee Berwick is a London based sound artist who is interested in space, energy and the physicality of sound. As the 90’s turned to the 0’s Lee recorded all along the Thames, documenting a river and city different to the one we inhabit today. Lee’s performance will dig through this forgotten strata of London’s sound history: The London Eye goes up, the Bankside landing stage outside what is now the Tate Modern comes down and ships unload at the last London dockyard.
About Peoples Bureau
Peoples Bureau is a programme of artistic actions that enable community representation and empowerment, delivered by artists Eva Sajovic and Rebecca Davies. Peoples Bureau was set up in 2014 and based at the Elephant and Castle shopping centre - one of the most contested sites in the capital, currently undergoing a vast development that has been and will continue to permanently displace thousands of people who live and work here. Peoples Bureau collects and makes visible the diversity of cultures, skills, networks and resourcefulness present in an area (eg long-term in Elephant&Castle). Peoples Bureau occupies a unique position in the context of community art, by engaging with a multitude of stakeholders including local residents, the developers, universities, Southwark Council, art institutions, activists and the media, thus creating a vibrant platform for contestation, negotiation and representation.
Through skill exchanges and other interactions, Sajovic and Davies act as community catalysts, activating individuals, communities and local organisations. Their collaborative practice has seen them work with Whitechapel Gallery, LCC, Chelsea College of Art, Tate Modern. In Elephant & Castle they have worked with over 20 local groups, regularly and actively engaging with over 200 local residents from Latin American, Bangladeshi and British communities. The project has been piloted at the Bootle Library in Liverpool and is currently working in Park Royal as part of a commission from Create. Rebecca and Eva, with writer Sarah Butler recently completed the film ‘Unearthing Elephant’ which won the Research In Film award at the AHRC film awards, 2017.