The Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership, as a Tate Exchange Associate, has launched a new arts engagement project which invites young people from Wandsworth and Lambeth to explore clay working and share their experiences of the developing area.
Published on
December 9, 2016
The Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership, as a Tate Exchange Associate, has launched a new arts engagement project which will bring clay and digital storytelling workshops to a network of galleries on the south bank of the Thames.
The project – called Material Action – will offer young people from Wandsworth and Lambeth the opportunity to explore clay working and exchange their experiences of the developing area with the support of skilled and established artists.
The workshop programme will be run by arts group Collective Matter, and will take place in Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall (BGV), Gasworks and Pump House Gallery – three key venues within Nine Elms on the South Bank’s fast growing cultural network.
The project is part of the Tate Exchange programme and will culminate in an interactive and participatory workshop to showcase the young people’s work within Tate Exchange at Tate Modern, one of the world’s most prestigious arts venues.
Young people taking part will have the opportunity to collaboratively express their observations and memories of the local area, through creative clay making. The workshops aim to encourage participants to create works which reflect on the changes taking place across Nine Elms and Vauxhall.
The workshops will take place between January and March 2017 at Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall (BGV), Gasworks and Pump House Gallery and the participatory event at Tate Modern will be held on March 10th.
The first creative clay workshop, which is open to anyone to attend, will take place at Gasworks (155 Vauxhall St, London SE11 5RH) this Sunday 11th December 2-5pm. Participants are invited to drop-in and contribute to an evolving clay ‘building site’.
Ravi Govindia, leader of Wandsworth Council and co-chair on the Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership, said:
This project combines the exceptional creative talents of three superb galleries and draws on the inspiration of Tate Modern. It will result in a unique, rich and interesting creative experience for young people in Wandsworth and Lambeth and is a great example of this area’s regeneration programme opening up new opportunities for our local communities.
Clay brick is the building block for some of the most iconic buildings in Nine Elms and Vauxhall, new and old, and it will be fascinating to see what local young people create.
Lib Peck, leader of Lambeth Council and co-chair on the Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership, said:
Pottery and clay are part of Vauxhall’s rich heritage and it’s great to see that history brought back to life with this imaginative project. This is a great example of how regeneration is absolutely linked to the cultural enrichment of a place and bringing history to life.
Vauxhall was once home to the renowned Royal Doulton pottery company and clay brick is a key building material across the regeneration area. Battersea Power Station, which sits at the western end of Nine Elms, is reportedly Europe’s biggest brick building.
The Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership
The Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership was created in 2010 to coordinate and drive forward the transformation of this central London district. Co-chaired by the leaders of Wandsworth and Lambeth Council, it includes the area’s main developers and landowners, the Mayor of London, Transport for London and the Greater London Authority.
This unique public-private partnership has a shared vision for the area and is driving forward its ambitious place-making and cultural development programme in close consultation with local communities.
Website: www.nineelmslondon.com
Twitter: @NineElmsTeam
Tate Exchange
Tate Exchange Associates
Tate Exchange allows other organisations and members of the public to participate in Tate’s creative process. Organisations from a wide range of fields well beyond the gallery’s normal reach have become Associates of Tate Exchange. This group will help to programme and run new dedicated spaces. Working in a spirit of generosity, openness and trust, the Associates will collaborate with one another around an annual theme inspired by the art on display. Tate Exchange will in time expand its group of Associates to include more partners from the UK and abroad, while consistently seeking to engage audiences which are new to the museum.
For the full list of Associates and more information please visit tate.org.uk/tateexchange.
Pump House Gallery
Pump House Gallery, situated beside the lake in Battersea Park, provides a welcoming space for audiences to see, participate and engage in contemporary art.
Supporting high quality artistic activity that provides audiences with different perspectives on how, where and why we live the way we do is at the heart of Pump House Gallery’s programme. Presenting work both in the gallery and off site, Pump House Gallery provides its audiences with a range of experiences and activities that unpack challenging, thought-provoking, contemporary issues.
Pump House Gallery is owned by Wandsworth Council and managed on the authority’s behalf by Enable Leisure & Culture
Website: www.pumphousegallery.org.uk
Twitter: @pumphousegal
Facebook: /pumphousegallery
Instagram: @PumpHouseGallery
Gasworks
Established in 1994, Gasworks is a non-profit contemporary visual art organisation working at the intersection between UK and international practices and debates. Gasworks provides studios for London-based artists; commissions emerging UK-based and international artists to present their first major exhibitions in the UK; and develops a highly-respected international residencies programme, which offers rare opportunities for international artists to research and develop new work in London. All programmes are accompanied by events and participatory workshops that engage audiences directly with artists and their work.
Gasworks is also the hub of the Triangle Network, an international network of over thirty arts organisations, mostly based in Africa, Asia and South America. Triangle Network regularly develops and facilitates artists’ residencies and workshops as well as peer-to-peer exchanges, both between the UK and the rest of the world or within a specific region. Triangle informs Gasworks’ programme, giving the organisation unparalleled opportunities to nurture and exhibit artists from across the world
Website www.gasworks.org.uk
Twitter / Facebook / Instagram GasworksLondon
Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall
Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall is a non-profit, artist-led entity, placing equal emphasis on audiences and artists. Founded as an educational charity in 1994 to fill a niche between the institution, the commercial and the ‘alternative’, Beaconsfield’s reputation rests on the staging of an influential programme of commissions (beacons) in a range of art mediums (field). The organisation’s function as a primary research vehicle is particularly notable for pioneering developments in time-based, political and sound art as well as curatorial practice.
Through its identity as an experimental art laboratory and gallery, BGV has sustained a long-term engagement with challenging the boundaries of artists and audience at home and abroad International partnerships have included the Museum of Contemporary Art Oslo, Tate Britain and Foam Museum, Amsterdam.
Website: www.beaconsfield.ltd.uk
Twitter: @beaconsfieldart
Facebook: /BeaconsfieldGallery
