The other week I went to The Brixton Exchange, organized by Anchor and Magnet, a brilliant artist project which I found out about through friend, co-founder and inspiring fellow artist Barby Asante. It was an extraordinary day, a true day of exchange which began with a walking tour through Brixton (where I lived, from 1990-91) and set the scene for a debate around the hot issue of how local migrant communities are responding to rapid urban ‘regeneration’ (a term hard to agree on the definition of) and how artists can participate in this process. I have to say I have been vaguely aware of the gentrification of Brixton and of the commodification of a community, as a ‘brand’, but seeing ‘Brixton Square’, the gated community being built along Cold Harbour Lane opposite Southwyck House and hearing the debate around what this kind of development represents (economic and cultural segregation – ‘there aren’t even any black people in the brochures!’ one local piped up.) was quite sobering and I wonder what kinds of debts and credits are being played out in a context like this. On the other hand, the openness, creativity, clear engagement and rigorous thinking of A+M – borne out by the presence of local representatives from all areas of Brixton life, including the local counselor – gave me great hope as to the power of live/ social arts practice to be relevant and instrumental in providing relevant forums and tools for dialogue, change, re-imagining and resistance.
You can check their activity on their website. Brixton is one of the places within London I would very much like to take this project – watch this space.
I also went to Bristol, another city that I want to take this project to, to the In Between Time Festival. If you don’t know about this festival, it’s really worth taking a look: performances, installation and live interventions across the city, curated and produced with poetry, humanity and vision. I was only there for 24 hours with my daughter and most of the paying performances were sold out, but we sat in the dark at We See Fireworks with strangers, enchanted by voices recounting stories of live performances that had changed their lives. A memory of visiting an Artangel project, ‘H.G’ by Robert Wilson in the Clink Vaults back in 1995, which was one of the first ever genre bending installation/performance works I had ever seen, re emerged and transported me, I remember life and my idea of what art in a public space could be never quite being the same again. In the evening we watched a Fake Moon being hoisted up into the night sky and sat sipping mulled wine with friends. I like how this project is giving me permission to go explore…soon I’ll be off to Birmingham for a recce there, more on that soon.
In between this, much other work is happening: Firstly, the content and design of the website and the trailer that will introduce it and be out at the end of March. I had forgotten how long it takes to get this part of the project to a ripe stage, a lot of clear communication and detailed responses to initial designs, to ensure they really are in alignment with the spirit of the project. Secondly, I have been gathering an initial set of debts and their stories from some of my circle of supporters and started to have and record conversations around these. The real stuff! I will be posting up extracts from these on this blog soon.
