24 April 2015
What kind of a city are we building today? What are the ideas and values that it embodies? Civic Futures will explore the idea of the metropolis as a collective social enterprise. This forms part of the programme for All of This Belongs to You, an exhibition at the intersection of design, democracy and public life.
The Gravy
The Gravy is a unique collective of DJ’s which broadcast a weekly radio show on Resonance FM, showcasing a wide spectrum of music from around the globe. The sets stem from soul to pop to house to the obscure and beyond. Keeping it eclectic but at the same time aiming to please. thegravyboat.tumblr.com/ @gravyfmradio
Building Rights presents ‘The Planning Game’
Building Rights is a popular repository of planning knowledge, a user-generated forum where the rules of what is built and what is not are shared, tested and generated in public. It is a place where the ‘rules’ of planning are made fairer and more visible. In this spirit, join us for ‘The Planning Game’, a talk and workshop using roleplay to explore the replanning of South Kensington, while probing planning’s rules, moves and tactics. Building Rights is part of ‘Making Planning Popular’, David Knight’s (DK-CM) ongoing PhD at the Royal College of Art. In collaboration with Europa and Afonso Martins, and supported by Finn Williams and The Interiors Group.
The Design of Public Life, 2014 Architects Shelley McNamara of Grafton and Finn Williams of the Greater London Authority discuss the role design can play in shaping public spaces in a world made increasingly diffuse by technology. Chaired by curator Rory Hyde.
graftonarchitects.ie commonoffice.co.uk @commonoffice @roryhyde
Pipe Dreams,
2015 Pipe Dreams marks the passing of Crossrail’s Tunnel Boring Machines beneath the Barbican Estate. Granted unique access as the final stretch of the Crossrail project’s tunnelling takes place between Liverpool Street and Farringdon, the film captures the magic of the tunnels in their present state, revealing the underground landscape and contemplating what is being created underneath our feet. Commissioned by the Barbican Centre.
Skydweller
Skydweller is a portrait of London as seen from the top of Cromwell Tower, one of the three residential towers in the Barbican Estate. This film combines over 5,000 photographs taken from the top of the tower with especially composed music and poetry. The poem was written and performed by the artist Paul Haworth, who said: “whenever one looks at great cities from high up, it is a beautiful and threatening proposition. Watching this footage, I was fascinated by how wild London appeared. It feels like an entirely economic landscape and yet there is still so much romance in it. Up in the sky, you are always imagining what is going on down there.
Long Live Southbank Film Series
Long Live Southbank is the movement started by local skateboarders to represent its diverse creative community of skateboarders, BMXers, riders, artists and visitors, and preserve London’s unique and world renowned Southbank Undercroft. The creative skate community of Southbank turned a dead space into a thriving visual hub, which has continued to grow and evolve for 40 years. This collection of films from LLSB and the Southbank skate spot community explore the importance of the space and the campaigns to save it.
Animations of the Undercroft by Steve Mitchell, 2004
Rollin Through The Decades by Winstan Whitter, 2005
40 Years Later by Henry Edwards-Wood, Southbank community and the evolution of skateboarding, 2013
The Bigger Picture by Henry Edwards-Wood and Paul Richards, LLSB campaign film, 2013
41 Years Later by Henry Edwards-Wood, LLSB celebration of Southbank and the future of skateboarding, 2014
llsb.com facebook.com/LongLiveSouthbank @Long_Live_SB
Winstan Whitter
Filmmaker and skater Winstan Whitter talks about the beginnings of skateboarding, how it reached the UK, and the importance of London’s Southbank skate spot – an iconic landmark.
Creative Campaigning Workshop Spoken word artist Zena Edwards shares her poem ‘Long Live’ and explores art and activism through creative campaigning. Join this interactive workshop to build your own social statement.
Civic Shop
The Civic Shop showcases the work of a new generation of civic activists and social designers – people trying to conserve the civic, inventors of new public spaces, new economies and champions of public good in everyday life. This evening it will tell the story of a collection of initiatives that are building a new civic future. Come and peruse their wares, and hear talks from Good Gym, Tampon Club, Restart and Civic Systems Lab. 19.30 – Tampon Club 20.00 – Civic Systems Lab 20.30 – Rework 21.00 – Good Gym
workshop.city/civic-shop @CassieRobinson
Curator’s Tour of All of This Belongs to You
What do a bollard, anti-homeless spikes and a Chinese school uniform tell us about public life? This tour will focus on the Civic Objects hidden in plain view around the museum’s permanent galleries.
From a giant latex column in the cast courts, to ‘reverse restitution’ in the Medieval and Renaissance gallery, this tour will take in the large-scale installations which form the exhibition All of This Belongs to You.
Please meet in the Grand Entrance outside of the exhibition entrance to What is Luxury?
vam.ac.uk/designandpubliclife/ @always__curious @_K_Vo_
