MEET THE LATEWI TEAM
STUDENTS@WORK
Developed as a 'live teaching' experiment, LATEWI is a research project exploring the debates around art on council estates and social practice in action -- and is 100% developed and delivered by students from Camberwell, Chelsea, and Wimbledon Colleges.
Supported by the University of the Arts London's CCW Graduate School and Student Enterprise and Employability Curriculum Development Programme, students involved in the LATEWI project are gaining hands on professional experience to prepare them for their chosen careers after graduation. Whether contributing as 'self-employed' freelance designers, filmmakers, photographers, artists, or writers, or taking involved 'managerial' roles as curators, arts administrators, education and outreach leaders, or specialist technicians, LATEWI offers CCW students the opportunity to 'learn through doing' -- by producing and co-authoring a research project which not only showcases the project's themes of social engagement, but also CCW students' very innovative, capable, and motivated approach to being future leaders in the UK culture industry.
Polly Tracey, Exhibitions Curator & Workshop Leader
I believe LATEWI to be about bringing different groups of people together, the local community and the University of The Arts London, through a series of symposiums, art events and workshops. My role within LATEWI has been to source artists for the exhibition, and to source venues for the various events going on. I am also part of the jury panel for the open call submission and curatorial team.
I am currently working in collaboration with Aveen Lennon to organise a series of workshops involving people from Stone End day centre. The end result will be exhibited at Harts Lane Studios on the 6th and 7th of May at our 'The Ideal Home Show' exhibition. Along with work by female, British and American artists Nina Dougan, Charlotte Weston and Mary Kate Bailey. And it will also be exhibited at LATEWI 28-29th of May in Peckham.
Aveen Lennon, Symposia Curator, Symposia Chair & Workshop Leader
As a socially engaged artist I jumped at the chance of being involved in the LATEWI project as I knew it would give me an opportunity to be a part of an exciting, social and political art event. The best part of being involved in LATEWI has been the hands on experience from curating the symposiums to judging the works for the exhibition to organizing a workshop. The practical lessons I have learned from being part of a team and working together to put on a two day event is something that I know will help me a great deal in the future. A particular highlight for me was the workshop myself and fellow artist Polly Tracey organised in partnership with Stones End Day Centre (AGE UK Lewisham and Southwark). The day centre is a vital part of the community as most of the members who attend the centre are over the age of 75, many of whom have dementia, and won’t otherwise leave the house if the centre did not provide them with transport. We drew areas around Peckham for the members to colour in, which sparked memories they had of growing up in the area.
Jazz Kear, Workshop Leader & Researcher in Residence
I had started becoming more interested in taking photographs of the local estates, which I saw as being both beautiful and haunting. Many house only a few residents as a result of their imminent destruction and regeneration; this is due to deterioration from age, containing asbestos, and being replaced with a mix of private and social housing flats, etc. I was really keen to engage with the local community so I joined the LATEWI team, looking for a way to bring art and community together. Shortly after, myself and Jo Collier started a collaboration aiming to capture the voices of the local residents and community in response to the number of developments and regeneration projects in Camberwell and Peckham. I shall also be involved in a workshop called Lookup alongside Cara Courage, and in conjunction with Peckham Vision. The workshop will be focusing on literally looking up and photographing the local architecture along a route through Peckham; the aim is to encourage people to explore and appreciate the local architecture which is a detail of our daily lives so easily missed. It's going to be a fun and inspiring event!
Damaris Dresser, Workshop Leader, Symposia Chair & Writer in Residence
As part of my final year dissertation I worked at Peckham Platform and wrote about the issues and challenges of working with socially engaged art practice and social inclusion in a gallery setting. I thoroughly enjoyed this and it opened my eyes to many career options after graduation. Therefore I immediately jumped at the chance to be involved with ‘Look at the (E)state We’re In’. I interviewed Barby Asante, Laura Oldfield Ford and Jordan McKenzie for Art & Music magazine, providing me with first hand experience of the world of art writing. I will be co-running a creative arts workshop for children where we will be asking them to collage their dream home. This will be free for local kids to attend. I will also be chairing the ‘Power to the People’ symposium talk where Emily Druiff, Cara Courage, E15 Mums, and Live Art Development Agency will be discussing Self organisation versus official arts organisations.
Andrew Graves-Johnston, Social Media Editor, Film Curator, Graphic Designer, IT/AV Technician & Symposia Chair
I have many reasons to be involved in the Look A The Estate We're In symposium, but I am really interested and concerned by the way gentrification has suddenly become a hot topic for council tenants and housing activists. As well as being a mature sculpture student at Camberwell I have been a housing activist since the late 1980s, I used to be a volunteer for ASS the Advisory Service for Squatters as I squatted for 17 years in and around Brixton. I've been coordinating the social media for the LATEWI project, producing posters and flyers, managing general techy stuff and will be chairing the Concrete Heart Land: Film Screening & Director's Talk. My contribution to the exhibition are casts of manhole covers from the Aylesbury estate which is due for demolition. These are the gateways and portals to hidden worlds and pathways. By taking them from the Aylesbury estate I want to make a record of the place one that in many ways will still exist even when the buildings there now have been demolished. As well as a symposia talk on art and gentrification at Peckham Liberal Club there will also a screening of Concrete Heart Land at the Wilson Road campus of Camberwell College, which I curated. The film charts the struggles of the local community to keep their homes, stay living in the area, and maintain communal benefits in the face of the advance of this now notorious 'urban redevelopment programme'. The screening is followed by a Q and A with the directors who lived on the estate. Both of these events are on the Friday 29th, free but booking is recommended.
Suzy Storr, Publications Editor & Workshop Leader
I joined LATEWI because I wanted a chance to give back to the community that has given me a home for the last three years. When asked how I would like to contribute I thought it was appropriate for me to do what I enjoy the most: arts and crafts. I believe there is no tool more useful than the imagination, especially for the developing minds of children. My fondest memories of my childhood are the ones when I was lost in creative thought. As a native to New York City, I didn’t have a big back garden to play in, just the concrete sidewalk, but that didn’t stop me from imagining my very own tree house in tree that stood outside my bedroom window. I remember how much fun I had drawing my dream home perched in its branches. So, as an aspiring teacher, I saw LATEWI as a great opportunity to share this exercise with others by curating a creative workshop for the symposium. I wish to share my love for the arts with local children and their families by providing them with a fun-filled afternoon where they can make their very own dream homes.
Jo Collier, Researcher in Residence & Symposia Chair
I got involved with LATEWI because of its exploration into the changes in Peckham and Camberwell. I am take part in many different aspects of LATEWI, one being a collaboration with Jazz Kear, specifically looking at council estate and their residents. We have been commissioned to do an 'archival' piece on this topic. It has been amazing interviewing and getting a one to one dialog going with the people who have seen the changes of the local area in past years. More importantly their views on these changes; often their views are often overshadowed by either left wing activist, council/ government agenda or both. As well as this, I am chairing a talk on Art and Gentrification: this is topic is linked intrinsically to the talks with local people. It has been an extremely interesting and eye opening experience and really really fun as well. The events, I believe, will reflect this.