The Queens Platinum Jubilee is getting nearer, and if your state of mind is along the lines of ‘well this is all very exciting but I can’t be bothered to leave Greater Kennington’ then we have something you might enjoy. The Imperial War Museum has just opened a compelling exhibit of the Queen in wartime and it is set out over three sections.
The first gallery is a selection of 18 large format photographs outlining the Queen’s journey through conflict, from growing up in WW2 and more modern conflicts, to sticking decorative pins on people. The Royals in Wartime section is more of a dedicated route around the IWM exploring the Royal Family’s long connection to the armed services and the key role they’ve played in terms or morale and logistics over the years. The Royal Family in Wartime is the third exhibit and it features 53 photos outlining out the Royals commitment to the armed services over the decades, from directly serving in the army, to Elizabeth serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in spite of being told not to. Well done..
The exhibit has mostly been pulled together from the millions of items the IWN have in storage, and this is what they always do very well. This vast resource enables curators to carefully select items that even predate the Queen (if that’s even possible).
‘The Queens Platinum Jubilee at IWM London’ is open from today until 9 June. Entry is free but nabbing a timed ticket is recommended. However, if you’ve forgotten to book, or you’re just lazy, turning up is usually fine as they haven’t checked our tickets recently.
Hot off the heals from Craft Week, City and Guilds of London Art School is at it again and having it’s annual show and we’ve had an inspection. The artists are completing their foundation year, so the work is less advanced than the much grander Degree Show (we’ll get on to that in a tic). The students are studying a more proscribed range of styles than their more advanced counterparts but are much more experimental (read, slightly mad but very interesting). The themes this year seem to be 1. Saving the planet 2. Handbags 3. Saving the planet through handbags 4. Rocks. If you want to impress your friends bring them along and when they invariably ask ‘well, what DOES it mean’, try rolling your eyes and saying ‘its about IDENTITY’. If that doesn’t work try ‘can’t you see, it’s about UKRAINE’.
The Foundation show is on tomorrow (Friday the 20th) from 10 – 5 and Saturday 10 – 5. It’s in the old telephone building in Kennings Way
On 29 June to 3 July is the mighty (we’re talking huge) Degree Show in the main buildings of the college. It showcases a range of up and coming artists arranged in small rooms, so you can see a selection of their works. What we find most interesting is that you can see the work of historic wood and stone carvers in the back garden area. Also of interest is the areas dealing with conservation and restoration on the upper floors. And if you don’t care for something keep your trap shut as chances are the artist is behind you!
Another high point on the Greater Kennington cultural calendar takes place this weekend and we’re here to tell you about it. City and Guilds in Kennington Park Road are taking part in London Craft week on Friday and Saturday and it looks as if they are hosting a number of free (and we love free) events and demonstrations.
Various studios around C&GLAS will be open exhibiting a range of crafts and showing how stuff is made. In the paper studio students and tutors will be on hand to show paper related demonstrations and discuss paper conservation. In the printmaking studio, the head of printmaking will be hosting several (sadly now booked) workshops but others will be on hand giving demonstrations of different kinds of printing such as intaglio. We’ve been in this studio, and it is a fascinating space. Outside, students will be giving demonstrations of wood and stone carving and you can even have a go at carving yourself! Apparently there is a carving competition among students as well. This sounds frighteningly dangerous, but somebody losing a half a finger could be interesting nevertheless.
The press release enticingly mentions a free talk and tasting event sponsored by Fabal Lager (we’ve never heard of them either) on Saturday afternoon which sounds fun. Indeed, we reached out to City and Guilds to see if they were having a launch event featuring free wine and canapés which might just influence our review. Their response was ‘no’, but we’ve picked up the pieces of our shattered dream and moved on with our lives.
No ticket is required for this event, just turn up.
A great deal of the built environment around us in Greater Kennington can be linked directly to architect and visionary Edward Hollamby (1921 – 1999). Like many architects of his generation, Hollamby was profoundly influenced by the values of William Morris. Namely, those relating to equitable living conditions and the universal right for people to work and live in places which allow them to flourish. There was no better way to execute these values that by working for local government, and Hollamby worked for both the LCC and Lambeth Council.
Locally, Hollamby is known primarily for being the lead architect of the Brandon Estate in Walworth (behind Kennington Park), which we wrote about last summer. His vision for the estate was to build a community which addressed the individual and changing needs of its residents, make shopping easier, while also creating large green spaces to allow people to relax and children to play. And to make the area more aesthetically pleasing he even convinced Lambeth to commission a sculpture by Henry Moore, which is very much still there.
As lead architect in Lambeth Hollamby hired Peter Finch, who designed the Cotton Gardens Estate in Kennington Lane (we are aware that these buildings remain a tad controversial). Hollamby/Finch’s thinking is that they wanted buildings which ‘danced around in different directions’ depending on how one looked at them. It’s often overlooked that at ground level they created green spaces in addition to bungalows and maisonettes for people who didn’t fancy living in a high rise. A walk around Knight’s Walk around the foot of the buildings is a bit like a stroll in a park. And if the towers look very familiar to others in South London, that’s because they were all made from complex interlocking panels which were massed produced.
Hollamby was also the brains behind the unusual and rather playful Lambeth Towers in Kennington Road, with the lead architect again being Finch. The building was started in 1964 with the intention of being mixed use, which it is to this day, and the box like design intended to allow each maisonette to be double aspect and have its own balcony. These buildings are classed as being ‘Brutalist’ but that name seems to stick to every 20thCentury building with a bit of exposed brick. Figuring out when a building becomes ‘brutal’ therefore becomes rather like an architectural game of Wordle. You may or may not find these estates to be beautiful, but Hollamby always made the needs and wishes of the residents paramount.
The latest offering over at the Newport Street Gallery is the work of little known and exceptionally gifted artist Keith Cunningham, who mysteriously gave up painting just a few years after he started. Cunningham was on the periphery of the London Group of artists who among their number included Frank Auerbach and Leon Kosoff and the Group were intrigued by Cunningham’s powerful, if not at times gruesome and sinister, subject matter.
At least there’s no queue for the toilet
Cunningham was certainly a man with something to say, but not very interested who heard him, as many of these 70 works accumulated in his studio as opposed to being seen. He used a very dark and tightly controlled palette of colours with think coats of impasto, giving the works that are not under glass a 3D element, with the added drama of huge brushstrokes. In this manner he captures commuters, rabbits, and even squid.
At the moment there is an epic retrospective of Francis Bacon’s work at the Royal Academy (north of the river if you dare) and in way Cunningham’s depictions of blood crazed dogs, skulls, and angst is an interesting counterpoint to the great man’s work. It’s possibly not a coincidence that they’re being staged at the same time.
As you move through the well organised exhibit Cunningham’s work begins to tilt more towards abstraction and huge blocks of colour. The painting below is a still life. However, it rather reminded us of Phil from the accounts team when he fell over outside the Tommyfield pub after downing eight pints of cider at our Christmas party.
‘Keith Cunningham, the Cloud of Witness’ is on now until 21 August at Newport Street Gallery and is totally free.
If you follow art historical debates as fervently as our snooty ‘Culture’ department here at the Runoff does, then you’ll be aware that there are big debates afoot about the repatriation of objects that have been, lets say, ‘liberated’ from other cultures. Examples are the Elgin Marbles and Benin sculptures at the British Museum. The current exhibit at the Gasworks Gallery in Vauxhall takes a different approach to this question by asking museums to assess their relationship with life and death….Stick with us…..
The show is called ‘out of an instance of expiration comes a perennial showing’ and is by LA based artist Gala Porras-Kim. In addition to raising questions about the use of capital letters, the artist raises questions about the conservation of human remains and if sacred objects meant for the afterlife are devoid of meaning if extracted from a tomb and put on display, and to get her point across there’s even a giant sarcophagus in the main room. Next to the works are letters to museums asking about their curatorial practice and in one curious note she asks a curator if a mummy had been consulted before he was put on display.
As you walk through the works in the small space, the content of what is being asked becomes more apparent. How do we understand and respect items associated with death and how do institutions respect and deal with items in their collections which are still living (eg in an afterlife)? And if you prefer your art exhibits to involve mould spores and the contents of vacuum cleaner bags then this exhibit doesn’t disappoint. I mean this is Gasworks, after all.
As you know, we love free stuff and on Tuesday, 8 March at 7pm Gasworks will have a free talk about Pharaonic music and how the ancient Egyptians made instruments. Admittedly when we first saw this we thought it said Pharrell, but at least there’s still music involved.
Out of an instance of expiration comes a perennial showing is on now until 27 March and, like all good stuff, free. Look at website for opening hours.
We recently made a visit to the soon to be relocated Southwark Playhouse in Elephant and Castle to see a reworking of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. This production is set in Brixton (a popular neighbourhood south of us) in 1981 with a backdrop of Thatcher, The Specials and Madness. If these names mean nothing to you please ask your parents and feel free to read on.
In this production the Montagues and Capulets become rival council houses. The presence of pop music has the potential to make the production has the cheesy, but it is subtly done and used in the background. The play sticks almost entirely to the original script, but manages to weave into it a fair degree of humour and levity and the odd bit of swearing and slang. One monologue is delivered while a women is folding laundry and asking audience members to help her. And when talking about Juliet, Paris and Romeo have a bad habit of condoms popping out of their pockets. Exceptionally strong characters are Yinka Awani as a Friar Laurence determined to make a wedding happen come what may, and Fiona Skinner as a hilarious Lady Capulet who at the end of the day just wants to have giant piss up for Juliet instead of a wedding.
This production is part of Southwark Playhouse’s ‘Shakespeare for Schools’ project, will enables over 2000 Southwark kids to see the play for free during a series of matinees, but hopefully with the fucks and shits taken out. This year Southwark Playhouse will be moving to the top of Kennington lane, in the giant and strangely named ‘Uncle’ high-rise. While this has been in the works for ages, we’ve been informed that the move is imminent.
Romeo and Juliet is on now until 5 February and tickets can be booked here. There are six characters playing 13 roles, so it pays to pay attention. This is a very fast paced production and comes in at 1:45 with no interval, so get a large drink to take in from the very fun café. And to the bosses at Runoff HQ, we too had a large drink but this counts as a business meeting, like it or not
If it was possible we would buy all of our readers a colourful Christmas gift. Unfortunately, we once again failed to get a bonus this year or any other kind of appreciation from Runoff management. Well, unless you count Monday morning when Phil from finance shouted ‘here’s your lot’ and threw a handful of Quality Street into our cubicles before walking away. What we can give you, therefore, is a present that will enhance our lives in other ways.
Lambeth County Court has stood proudly near Kennington Cross for almost a century. It’s functional life came to an end in 2017 and its future was very much in doubt. It was tantalizingly shut from public view after that with the exception of two occasions, which we chronicled in 2019 and earlier this year. During this time the Duchy of Cornwall, who owns the property, cynically applied for the building to be immune from listing with the plan to convert it into……you guessed it……luxury flats, with the added indignity of an extra floor plopped on top. This would of course entail gutting the building and destroying the original, period courtrooms.
We’ve always had a passion for the Courthouse, but we’ve given our opinion about planning consent before and let’s just say it took the better part of a year to put that toothpaste back in the tube so we weren’t doing that again. However, to the rescue came the 20th Century Society who gave advice (read, pressure) to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to list the building and after a great deal of exertion the building was granted Grade II status, ensuing that it will remain intact. We’re happy that the Society used some of our images on their website.
At the moment part of the building is used as studios for artists affiliated with City and Guilds. In our little crystal ball the Courthouse could perhaps become a gallery or studio space for everyone in the community to enjoy in perpetuity. Everyone needs a place to live, but they also need a place to explore. Merry Christmas……
Last weekend our newish MP, Florence Eshamoni, opened the spanking new ‘History Hut’ in Kennington Park close to the tennis courts. Formerly a seating area frequented by gentlemen who like to enjoy an outdoor beverage, the rest stop has been transformed by the installation of eight boards celebrating the vitality and diversity of our area. The boards cover areas from royalty to hangings, cricket to Chartists, and Van Gogh to WW1. If you are an astute reader you’ll be aware that we have written about many of these things before *collective office high five*. Well worth a pre-Christmas perambulation to work off those extra calories
The boards also mention a little known but fascinating tattle of trivia taken from the estates around Greater Kennington. The strange railings that you see around many estates are not actually railings at all, but repurposed stretchers from WW2. They were placed in storage by the Civil Defense Corps until the 1960’s in case of a nuclear (!) attack. We wrote about them in 2019.
Camera Club
We really know very little about the Camera Club other than it has been there for years and we know very little about it. It is actually one of the oldest photography clubs in the world, and the site in Bowden Street acts not only as a studio but also an exhibit space for members. Until 25 January the gallery is having its annual Winter Member’s Exhibition and it is totally free. The photos offer a poignant overview of the highs and lows we’ve all faced in 2021. The very friendly staff on hand can even tell you how you can become a member yourself if you are the snappy sort.
Today we visited the brand new £30 million Holocaust/World War 2 Galleries at our very own world class Imperial War Museum. The IWM has always dedicated galleries to these events, but when the museum was closed they worked tirelessly to transform the areas into a much larger (over 3000sq. metres) space with much more interactive content. What they have done well here is what the IWM has always excelled at. Namely, focussing on the lives of people impacted by an event as opposed to the event itself.
The Holocaust galleries commence with an overview of Jewish life in central Europe in the 1920/30s. Brightly light rooms tell the stories of families and workers getting on with school, commuting and bar mitzvahs in the face of increasing discrimination. A transition room explains with frightening logic how Hitler became chancellor in 1933 and how life for Jews became incrementally more impossible as Germany grew closer to global conflict. The fate of Jews from 1939 to post war Europe is subsequently not presented in the graphic and grainy black and white images of death we have all seen before. Rather, we see photos of living green fields which thrive in places like Sobibor and Treblinka in Poland. Interwoven is the lived experience of survivors whose collective memories will soon become extinct, but have been persevered by the IWM.
The WW 2 galleries are a bit more of a task to take in, as they cover everything from action in the Africa to the Philippines. A whole museum could be dedicated to this, but IWM do their best to distil this into smaller elements focussed on human experiences on the front line and also people impacted on the home front. Various campaigns and victories are outlined and poignant detail is given to the efforts of troops and civilians on D Day. The huge scope of these galleries are made more accessible by the integration of devices such as a mock up of an early 40’s British home, clothing, music, air raid shelters, and the effect of the war on children who were evacuated from London. The final rooms are cogently dedicated to something usually overlooked by war memorials. Namely, how the world repaired itself after the event.
For those of you who are reluctant to visit the IMW out of a concern that it celebrates conflict and warfare, let us assure you that it doesn’t. As the galleries above indicate, it is more of a museum dedicated to collective survival in times of crisis and individual resilience in times of oppression. As conflict and warfare very much exist on this planet as we speak, it also introduces concepts of how we can help war ravaged people in the present.
The two galleries are permanent and free but are ticketed. You can get tickets on the day but to avoid waiting around it might be a good idea to book. If you are wondering about taking kids please not that these galleries are partially designed for children, but for under 11’s it might be a good idea to speak to them about what they are about to see.
While you’re swishing around the museum building brain cells you can also check out a small photographic exhibit from Oscar nominated photographer/filmmaker Wim Winders taken at ground zero in the weeks after the atrocity. The photos are large format and quite powerful. Afterwards we fully approve going to a Greater Kennington pub to obliterate all of those brain cells you just obtained.
