What’s On
Rita Keegan: Somewhere Between Here and There
Visit the South London Gallery to see Rita Keegan’s first solo exhibition in more than 15 years.
Combining digital animation, textiles, painting and copy art with experiential media such as scent, Keegan’s tactile practice grapples with the elusive and enduring powers of memory, often drawing on her extensive family archive: a photographic record of a Black middle-class Canadian family from the 1880s to present day.
The exhibition is free to visit and the South London Gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 11am - 6pm.
For further information, please visit www.southlondongallery.org
The Conch: September 2021
Join curator Maggie Matić with artists Shenece Oretha and Jamila Prowse, and curator and researcher Amrita Dhallu, for this online discussion exploring repair and sustainability in artistic practice.
Baby Bear by Moon on a Stick Productions
The perfect first theatre experience. Join Baby Bear as she explores nature and wildlife in an uplifting, beautiful and comical theatre production.
MA Fine Art Graduate Showcase
Discover the stars of tomorrow in this MA graduate showcase from Camberwell College of Arts.
AIR-obics
Barnie Emma and Taraneh Jahanpour lead a flight attendant-themed fitness class for all ages and abilities. No boarding passes required. Join us on Camberwell Green for some fun outdoor exercise and silliness.
Food Heroes
Cook and eat Sunday lunch together in this fun, free and friendly food session for people living in Vassall and Coldharbour. You can also become a Food Hero, teaching others how to cook your favourite recipe (with your time and ingredients paid for).
Online Open Studios
SAT 26TH & SUN 27TH
Enter an online world of colour, texture and form as Camberwell artists open their studios online as well as in person. From painters to printers, ceramicists to sculptors, this is an opportunity to explore the eclectic world of Camberwell’s diverse local arts scene.
Open Studios
SAT 26TH & SUN 27TH
Step into a world of colour and creativity as Camberwell's artists open their doors once more for our annual Open Studios event. It's an opportunity to meet local artists in person, in Covid-safe conditions, and discover the extraordinary array of creativity to be found in this inspirational London neighbourhood.
Inside Out Online Film Night
FROM 7PM
Join us for an evening of online films, responding to this year’s Camberwell Arts Festival theme. This includes a commissioned companion piece for Marble’s lockdown short, Outside In, and Piedad Seiquer’s Grief for a Time That Once Was.
Friday Gardening Club @ Myatt’s Fields
9.30AM – 1PM
Develop your gardening skills during a relaxing session at one of London’s most beautiful parks. You’ll be helping to grow plants for local groups and greening the park.
Litter Picking – Ruskin Park
10AM
Join a post-lockdown, litter-picking party and help a small, friendly group of volunteers care for this beautiful local park. It’s a great way to stretch your legs and meet your neighbours, as well as show some love for your local environment.
The Art Assassins
5PM – 7PM
Join The Art Assassins - a group of young people, aged between 14-20 years old, who meet every Tuesday at the South London Gallery. Together, they work with artists, designers and filmmakers to create a programme of events for other young people and a wider audience.
People Power in the Park – Rosie Hilal
MON & WEDS FROM JUNE TO JULY
Take inspiration from the flora and fauna in Myatt’s Fields Park in this free workshop programme for people aged 50+. These twice-weekly workshops run until 29th July, with opportunities to develop creative writing projects to share with local audiences.
Stay & Play – Mulberry Outdoor Preschool
9.30AM –11.30AM MONS & WEDS (TERM TIME)
This free, drop-in, term-time Nature Camp is run by the Mulberry Outdoor Preschool provides outdoor, nature-based activities – and lots of opportunities to meet other children and parents.
Sunday Spot at the South London Gallery
2.00 - 2.45PM & 3.15 – 4.00PM
Make your own family carnival float with artist Natalie Zervou-Kerruish, using bells, balls, sticks, paper, foil, ribbon and tape to build and decorate your float in a way that symbolises your family or community.
Virtual Open Gardens Day 2.0
FROM MIDDAY
The Camberwell Society’s virtual Open Gardens Day is back, with members sharing online videos and photographs of some of the wonderful gardens and green spaces that Camberwell has to offer.
Glengall Wharf Gardens drop-in gardening session
Discover a unique urban oasis, hidden inside Burgess Park – sharing skills is at the heart of this incredible community garden so why not join them for a Sunday gardening session? No experience necessary.
Camberwell Arts Market
10AM - 5PM
The Camberwell Arts Market is back with 12 socially-distanced art stalls, 6 farmers’ market stalls and 1 great reason to get out onto Camberwell Green!
Saturday Gardening Session - Friends of Ruskin Park
10AM & 11.30AM
Urban Canopy are leading gardening sessions for everyone, working in small groups to weed, plant and keep Ruskin Park beautiful.
Camberwell Architectural Treasure Trail - Agustin Coll
Follow illustrator Agustin Coll’s whimsical architectural characters on an illuminating quest around Camberwell to discover local landmarks in a new light. Scan the QR code that you will discover throughout SE5 to reveal the next illustration. Complete all 16 to unlock a special illustration!
ro' ro' – Jaki Irvine
ro’ ro’ is new work by Jaki Irvine and a companion piece to an immersive 13-channel video and sound work, Ack Ro’, showing concurrently at Frith Street Gallery, London.
Independence To Now
Explore the history of the South London Gallery since the 2003 exhibition Independence, which reflected on the gallery’s separation from Southwark Council.
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020
The annual open submission exhibition returns to the South London Gallery for the third consecutive edition, offering a preview of some of the most exciting practices of the next generation.
BSC PRESENTS ‘IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME’ BY CHRIS HAGAN
‘In Search of Lost Time’ by Chris Hagan
Open Daily | 10am-8pm
19th - 26th May 2021
Chris Hagan is a contemporary visual artist based in Brighton, UK. Having spent 2012 – 2017 as a freelance illustrator, Hagan has concentrated on contemporary fine art as his main art practice since 2017, during this time producing figurative and landscape-based works on paper and works on canvas.
‘In Search of Lost Time’
Chris Hagan’s first solo show with Blue Shop Cottage brings together a selection of works on paper and larger scale paintings created between 2017 and 2021. The selected works are aligned to a specific time and place, in particular if there has been an involvement through history and a way of life that was rural, humble and isolated from the urban expansions of the age. Piecing together a range of imagery from personal and found sources, subject matter is often created and reconstructed as a response to the original source material. Using the medium of painting, collage and drawing the work is inspired by a perceived romanticism for the countryside: a safe haven, seen as a place of rejuvenation, hope and enlightenment, juxtaposed against the brutality of poverty, isolation and the violent histories that still linger, spirit like in the landscape.
An interest in imagery of rural people working the land, regional folk traditions, of stories and beliefs that were rooted in superstition and the supernatural guide certain subconscious emotional responses towards the subject matter; and within these parameters Hagan strives to create ambiguity, layering artifice alongside disparate references to folk art and 20th century art through drawing, re-occurring motifs and the creation of abstracted effigies to the physical through a subtle distortion of the figurative form, inviting the viewer to form their own narrative.
Although some imagery is created purely through drawing and the use of motifs and the imagination, much of the source material dates back to early photography, with some from more recent times. Geographically this relates to people from the north of England, Ireland and Scotland, echoing the history and memory of both the artist, his extended family and the collective distant relations of many people within the country.
BSC presents ‘In Heat’ by Plum Cloutman and Nettle Grellier
IN HEAT at Blue Shop Cottage
by Nettle Grellier and Plum Cloutman
5th-12th May 2021 | 10am - 8pm
In Heat is a celebration of femininity, the side of femininity that women know very well, but has been ‘best kept away’ from the male gaze. In Heat is a chance for the artists and curator to wave their humour, absurdity and rough edges out for all to see. Here we have a show of honesty and humour - where we take a moment to revel in the absurd and raw femme that consumer culture would rather us not see.
As we emerge from 12 months of isolation and suppression let us revel in the coming together of artists, people and celebrate the essence of historically underrepresented artists. Trauma can be expressed, vulgarity is celebrated and in sharing all of this, we find ourselves increasingly connected and understood. By revealing these truths, we stand ever closer to a taste of something like freedom.
Playing Up!
Playing Up is a new series of drama workshops for children aged 1-3 and their adults.
These workshops use drama, singing, music, moving and props to explore creative play at home.
Mon-Sun: 10:00 am, 11:00 am, 2:00 pm
From the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell.
Southwark Sessions: Yoga for Peace, Isha Yoga
We are living in extraordinary and unsettling times with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the globe. In such situations, anxiety and stress can easily overwhelm you. It is now vital to maintain your own peace, inner balance, and wellbeing.
This session includes simple, yet powerful tools to foster peace from within, making it a constant presence in your life.
The Conch Online: March
6.30–8PM
The Conch is an open forum for emerging artists and writers that invites critical feedback on work in progress and open discussion in a relaxed atmosphere, outside of an academic institution.
This edition of The Conch focuses on editing as a part of visual arts practices. The event is curated by Tendai Mutambu and Lily Tonge with artists Samra Mayanja and Camara Taylor.
Journaling Workshop for Theatre Makers: Blue Elephant Theatre
11.00 AM
Feeling under-motivated or lacking in energy when it comes to your creative practice? This workshop is designed to spark creativity around theatre-making in a relaxed and unpressurised way.
The workshop will mix written and artistic activities encouraging creative thinking and imagination to support the ideas you may have for your work and inspire new ones.
Creative Workshops for Young Refugees and Migrants: Blue Elephant Theatre
FRIDAYS: 5–6.30PM
Blue Elephant Theatre's ReAct Youth Theatre is launching new workshops for young refugees and migrants!
Aimed at refugees and migrants aged 13-18 years old, these will be fun and creative workshops playing games, developing English language skills, meeting new people and learning from each other.