Talk

Act One: Retrieving Croydonia

Thu 03 Oct 2024
18.45 - 20.30
Pay What You Can
Lancaster Rooms
New Wing

For Act One, we host an informal discussion with Croydon’s homegrown artist space Turf Projects, artist Lina Ivanova and RESOLVE Collective, chaired by curator Louise Shelley, to explore how artistic and creative interventions are being mobilised around issues of urban planning and community agency in the management of public space.

Drawing on recent projects that have taken place across Croydon, the event will unpack the complex significance of Reeves Corner, reflecting on public space and grief, overcoming neglect and managed decline, and community skills sharing towards a collective vision for the borough. 
 
Speakers
 
Founded in 2013 by Croydon locals, Turf Projects is Croydon’s homegrown artist space and the first entirely artist-run contemporary art space in the borough. Based in the Whitgift Shopping Centre, Turf hosts free exhibitions and workshops, studios and collectives run by creatives for creatives.
 
Lina Ivanova is an artist working with photography, sculpture and installation. Her autobiographical practice is process-led, exploring social narratives of migration, family, history, heritage and displacement. Concerned with appropriation of the archive and found objects, Lina uses industrial materials to negotiate the nature and transformation of the photographic image in space, through the notions of individual and collective memory.

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. They are based at the Whitgift Shopping Centre in Croydon.
 

Not suitable for visitors under 18 years of age.

Due to limited capacity within the installation, tickets to events in the live programme are limited to 2 per booker.

Visitors with disabilities may bring a companion free of charge. Disabled companion tickets should only be booked alongside a paid ticket.

The exhibition, A Riot In Three Acts is accompanied by a series of live events, including eight intimate live performances of Imran Perretta’s original score for a string quartet, A Requiem for the Dispossessed, performed by the Manchester Camerata orchestra, within the installation.  

A programme of discursive events curated by Rahila Haque also invite artists, designers, architects, activists and academics to gather on the gravel of the replica of Reeves Corner to consider the symbolism, historical narratives and contemporary issues that permeate the installation. Corresponding to the exhibition’s reference to the model of the three-act structure, the programme builds a narrative of interconnectedness from a discrete site in Croydon, to a global civil uprising. 

These events are designed to facilitate genuine dialogue where participants can speak openly and honestly. We ask all attendees to be respectful and open-minded, with a willingness to learn from others. Above all, we want to ensure it is a safe, positive and inclusive space that is free from harassment and/or discrimination.