Project Space: People and Places by Photofusion
At the end of last year, 2nd floor GIVE partner Photofusion announced a new project; a supported commission and residency for Lambeth based artists, exploring diverse, local experiences of leadership. Funded by Arts Council England and Lambeth Council through its Town Hall Art Programme, this is the first project to make use of our new ground floor project space.
This opportunity is specifically for early/mid-career artists who are yet to receive their first professional commission. As a part of the project, artists receive support and guidance from a team of specialist staff at Photofusion and are provided with free workshop space, as part of our accelerator programme. The space is accessible 24 hours a day, providing artists with a creative space to think, reflect and explore. Throughout the project so far, the space has been used in a variety of ways, from recording a live podcast, to a pop-up photography studio.
The selected projects are centred around the theme of Leadership and shine a light on the vast number of communities and groups living in Lambeth today. Artists will be working with Lambeth Councillors and through them meet with key local figures, to create work that engages with ideas of leadership and themes specific to different areas of the borough.
The project is inspired by a series of photographic Councillor Portraits, commissioned in 1903 when the Borough of Lambeth was established. These are currently on display in Lambeth town hall. The commissioned work will be displayed in the Town Hall, Brixton in 2020 as a reflection of leadership in the borough over a century on.
The selected artists are:
Mohammed Ainan, who is working with the West and East African community in Angel Town, Lambeth. His interest is in the colours, textures and traditions of these groups, and how their often private image plays out against the more public image of construction that is occurring in Brixton. Working with the leaders of the local Mosque and Church, as well as the communities they serve, he states “As a young resident of Angel Town, I often see firsthand how the work of figureheads like these and others help to move the community and young people in positive directions. These are a community of larger than life but private leaders, that for me have been present but not had their work and histories seen or documented.”
Ellie Laycock; exploring the connection between young people and their local community in Lambeth. Working with local youth centres, she will use the commission to highlight local young people who have progressed through local youth services as participants and now work as leaders and mentors. “As a mother to a 9-year-old mixed-race boy who was born here in Lambeth...I want to explore how his community could shape his future”
Dee Ramadan is focusing is on youth and leadership, inspired by the likes of Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai and Shamma Al Mazrui, and the rise of youth activism around the world. “There is a fundamental shift in our understanding of what a leader is - who they should be, what they look like, or how old they should be”.
Angus Stewart, exploring “ideas, not of leadership but leaderships – different forms of leadership that together might form the direction that the borough follows”
