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New Exhibition looks at personal meaning behind public space

Tuesday 20 January 2009

A new community one day free exhibition looks at personal meanings behind public space and involves locations chosen because of their special meanings to local residents.

The Precious Places exhibition and plaques for the Ports of Call digital trail have been created by East London community artist Loraine Leeson of cSPACE in collaboration with residents of St John’s Community in North Woolwich and the London East Research Institute at the University of East London (UEL).

Following the launch on 28 January, a series of 14 stainless steel and laminate commemorative plaques created by Loraine will be installed around South Newham marking places special to locals through associations across time or space.

Each place is marked by a commemorative plaque and these can be discovered in locations like parks and walkways and the sites of past community celebrations. Also in diverse places such as Newham’s secret beach on the River Thames, a hairdressing salon linked to Lithuania, a launderette which is also a local meeting place and the Woolwich Ferry linking the north and south banks of the capital beyond London’s bridges.

Loraine said:

“The Precious Places trail will take people to places in South Newham that they may otherwise never come across and it’s a chance for the local communities to come together and remember places and memories that are important.

“This exhibition highlights the changes in a community that has gone through much transformation.

“Some residents have lived in this area all their lives and remember working docks and thriving industry, while others have settled here, or are just passing through, bringing knowledge and experience from all over the world. In this last outpost of the London Docklands largely overlooked in the redevelopment of the 1980’s, regeneration has finally taken a hold.”

Major new business, residential and tourist developments are transforming the physical environment and new incoming communities are rapidly changing the area’s demography. The collective life experiences of the areas’ inhabitants create local and global associations that help to form this neighbourhood’s unique and changing identity.

On the day of the launch an online exhibition and map featuring the plaque locations will go live on the project website portsofcall.org.uk/precious.html

The exhibition is funded by Awards for All, Royal Docks Trust and London Borough of Newham.

Ends

UEL Press office contact: 0208 223 6239 or 07595 056245.

For further information contact:
Loraine Leeson, Director, cSPACE, Tel. 020 8223 7531 l.leeson@uel.ac.uk www.cspace.org.uk

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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