Yesterday, Together, Tomorrow: Public and Personal Archives from Brixton

16 Sep-17 Oct 2021

Overview

Reflecting upon these recent times of isolation, where gathering with loved ones or strangers became forbidden, and drawing from the history of the Loughborough Hotel both as a pub and a dancehall, Yesterday, Together, Tomorrow opens a conversation on the act of coming together in public spaces, in Brixton.

The exhibition works across two lines of investigation, evolving and blending throughout the course of its duration. A showcase of archival material in loan from the Lambeth Archive and Blak Outside, works as a first attempt to highlight a few moments of coming together in public spaces in Brixton. After digging into the rich records of social gatherings in the area in recent decades, the gallery in collaboration with the archives selected both photographic and oral material that reflected people coming together in various contexts: protests, parties, celebrations, queues, games, jamms. A call to personal archives constitutes the other part of the show, a collaboration with anyone willing to share their personal records of gatherings in Brixton. Whether shot on analogue cameras or on a phone, the gallery will scan or print the images and then hang them on the exhibition walls. 

The exhibition, highlighting unseen moments of both personal and public archives, aims to create and further develop community ties, using the images and audio records as a springboard for further discussion and connection. The public programme will be an essential part of the show, a place to create further discussion around the social history of Brixton and to keep rewriting the exhibition itself.

The exhibition will be a space for hanging out, consulting books on display, or browsing the archives online, chatting, drawing, screening and debating.