In preparation for the event on Saturday September 6 2008, they have prepared a Manifesto for Change – a dossier of residents’ rights and responsibilities – which includes the memorable commandments: Grow Your Own Damn Vegetables and Trees Are For Climbing.
One point in the manifesto, All Washing Shall Be Hung Out, relates directly to the recent imposition of fines by Southward Council for hanging washing outdoors.
Residents will use protest signs, role-plays, megaphones and the ritualistic hanging of washing in trees to make their points heard. Invited guests, who include green activists, artists, council workers and educators, will address the question: can art affect social change?
The South London Gallery, which is in part funded by Southwark Council, along with grants from the Big Lottery Fund and the Arts Council, works with local residents to explore contemporary art through play. As well as offering six artist residencies, the gallery organises free activites for families on the estate, three annual visits to Charlie Chaplin Adventure Playground and regular school holiday workshops.
Margot Heller, Director of the South London Gallery, said: “Residents attending Andrea Mason’s Fun Club have come up with great ideas for making simple improvements to the environment and have already put some of them into practice. The allotments have been really popular and more and more people want to be part of the project.”
