The reciproCITY project proposal was developed in response to a brief from Artangel. We sought to expose the effects of "intentional" displacement caused by the lack of social housing in London and create awareness around the need for meaningful placement for those affected.
According to an independent study by the London Tenants Organisation, London has had over 22,000 social housing buildings knocked down over the past 10 years. As a result, affordable housing has become scarce. And, instead of restoring, the city has been focused on demolishing.
We have chosen to ground our public display in the notion of “home”, concentrating on the themes of displacement, migration, multi-generational households, gentrification, upheaval, etc. We do this by presenting a domestic environment in which each object represents something that could possibly exist in a multi-generational home. The objects in the room and the art on the walls symbolise themes that have generated the reciproCITY project. We are inviting the viewer to use this room as a reference point to experience the realities that exist around the housing crisis.
In our public display, we present work by two commissioned poets, Phoenix Yemi and Miracle Nwaizu alongside Giles Watkins. On the screen in our display, we will show short films from Do Ho Suh and Jermaine Francis. We have also programmed a panel discussion with photographer Jermaine Francis, artist Harold Offeh, and social housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa, to join us in discussing the lack of affordable housing in London from various perspectives. We will end our live display with a film screening of Ayo Akingbade’s Jitterbug (2022).
Curated by: Byunghun Jun Chae, Alicia DeLarge, Xinran Fang, Jarelle Francis, Franziska Hanke, Luyan Li and Fetine Sel Tuzel.
Image: Camelot Street Estate flanking the Old Kent Road, London. Image courtesy of Tony Ray-Jones / RIBA Collections.
