Futurecity will be reporting on the growing use of culture as a placemaking tool in London’s newest creative districts, starting with the Greenwich Peninsula.
Greenwich Peninsula launches the new SLAM Greenwich hub this Friday 31st October, with a tour of the cultural treats across this new and developing piece of London.
In September, the Peninsula opened its new gallery space, the Now Gallery with Simon Heijden’s site-specific installation Shade which will be there to be enjoyed until December, and this tour is part of the gallery’s evening events strand, NOW Later.
The tour begins with a talk by the gallery curator at 6.30pm and then takes in a series of ‘Peninsula After Dark’ events including Doug Foster’s film Breather – part sculpture/film/optical illusion, which uses a rare stereoscopic technique and a rusty steel box; open studios at the Lazarides’ Editions printworks currently based on site; a showcase of work by Ravensbourne College architecture students, a canopy installation 1.1 by Pearson Lloyd, and a night-time walk through the Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park. The tour ends with Hallowe’en themed music by ReviveHER, street food by Liberty Cheesesteak Company & Black Vanilla and drinks by Meantime Brewery back at the gallery.
For the film buffs amongst you, NOW Cinema will be showing a series of works on the theme of the River Thames, plus there will be an in-conversation session with filmmakers Roasalind Fowler, William Raban and Steven Bode, director of Film & Video Umbrella, hosted by NOW Cinema curator Gareth Evans. Films include: Jaunt (1995) by Andrew Kotting; Tamesa (2014) by Rosalind Fowler; Colour on the Thames (1935); River Sky (2001) by George Barber Polly II: Plan for a Revolution in Docklands (2006) by Anja Kirschner; and Thames Barrier (1977) by William Raban.
These After Dark, Hallowe’en activities are part of Knight Dragon’s cultural plans for Greenwich Peninsula, which have included Shunt’s recent 6-week site-specific and sell-out production of The Boy Who Climbed Out of His Face with live music, food and cocktails on the Peninsula’s new riverside venue – The Jetty; a triptych of films by Andrea Luka Zimmerman, John Smith and Charlotte Ginsborg; and sculptural performance piece by Florence Peake.