Woman stands outside next to a shed in an alotment space.

Waltham Forest: A Radical Landscape

Talk and private view

TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS

Wednesday 31 January 2024

Join us for a special event bringing together our Radical Landscapes commissioned artists: Abel Holsborough, Zaiba Jabbar and Graeme Miller. The event will include a panel discussion followed by a private view of the Radical Landscapes exhibition. The artists will be exploring how their memories and experiences of Waltham Forest and home have influenced the social sculptures that they have created across the borough.

  • 6pm – doors open
  • 6.30pm – panel discussion followed by Q&A
  • 8.30pm – private view of Radical Landscapes

About the artists: 

Abel Holsborough 

Abel is an artist who uses photography, writing and performance to explore the un-monumental and question what constitutes ‘useful’ art. Their interest in obscure histories and ‘not-quite’ archives also feeds into their work at Brixton Windmill where they are the lead miller of the last working windmill in London. Their collaborative works with organisations such as Artsadmin (Artist in Residence 2023/24), Grizedale Arts and Create London often link to ideas of home, place-making and community. 

Commission: Small Things Are Possible 

Zaiba Jabbar 

Zaiba is an award-winning director, moving image artist, commissioner, independent curator and Founder of HERVISIONS. She’s interested in the democratisation and accessibility by how we experience art outside the white cube. Her curatorial project HERVISIONS is an investigation into how people in the margins are using technology to create art outside of traditional formats, making space for themselves through the experience of expanded moving image. She is a leader in augmented reality and digital art exhibitions online and offline working with partners and institutes that include Tate Modern, LUX, i-D, Google Arts and Culture, IAMSOUND, The London College of Fashion, Loom Festival, Spectacles, arebyte, Furtherfield and The Photographers Gallery. Zaiba was curator in residence at LUX in (2018) and a board member of Abandon Normal Devices. 

Commission by HERVISIONS: Wild Wired! Rewilding Encounters of Langthorne Park

Graeme Miller 

Graeme Miller is an artist, composer and performance-maker working internationally across a wide range of media from radio to gallery installation and is known for his sited, performative social works. 

His practice emerged from UK performance of the 1980s as the co-founder of the influential theatre company Impact Theatre Co-operative. While continuing to make his own stage works that include A Girl Skipping (1990), he evolved a wide-ranging practice as an artist. He makes work that often responds to ideas about place and time, creating situational pieces that shift the attention in his audience. He also composes music and designs sound for theatre, dance, TV and film and is Associate Artist Tutor on the MA Performance Making Course at Goldsmiths University, London.  

Graeme lived for a decade in artists housing in Leyton between 1984 and 1994. His family home ended up in the epicentre of the protests to stop the M11 Motorway and was one of the final houses to be demolished for its construction. His radio work LINKED has broadcast in the area since 2003. 

Commission: LINKED

Please ‘pay what you can’ for your ticket. Our suggested donation is £7.50.

Image: Abel Holsborough

Still from Derek Jarman's The Garden. Sand, plants and trees can be seen.

Creative Kids

How does your garden grow?

WORKSHOPS

Thursday 18 January 2024

Taking inspiration from The Garden by Derek Jarman (1990) which features in our Radical Landscapes exhibition, we will be creating our own sun print gardens using cyanotype paper and decorating the frames with natural forms.

As this can be a messy session, please wear or bring old clothes. Aprons are available. The session is best suited for children 2 to 5 years old.

All sessions include a tour of the Gallery, the craft activity, singing and snack time.

These are FREE sessions but donations in support of our public programme are always welcomed and can also be made via the Eventbrite booking page if you are attending either session.

Booking information:

(BOOKING OPENS ON 4 JANUARY 2024)

Morning Session: 10am – 11.30am – Advance booking on Eventbrite. Please book tickets for all attendees.

Afternoon Session: 1pm – 2.30pm – Drop in with limited capacity. Please arrive on time and sign up at the front desk.

Image: Derek Jarman, The Garden, Courtesy & © Basilisk Communications

Creature from the Wild Wired game

Family Day

Wild Wired!

RADICAL LANDSCAPES PROGRAMME

Saturday 27 January 2024

Drawing inspiration from the local plants and wildlife of Lloyd Park, at this Family Day we’ll be imagining the land of the park as a living body and wondering about the superpowers that the park’s organisms could harness.

Join Zaiba Jabbar of HERVISIONS to make a collaged creature magnet using natural materials and flora and fauna images. Take it home and bring the outside world in.

The activity is suitable for children aged 5+ years. All materials will be provided.

These activities will take place in the Learning Centre on the top floor of  the Gallery.

We’re also excited to be celebrating Tamil Awareness Month on Saturday 27 at the Gallery, which means even more things to do for the family. On the first floor landing you’ll find a diorama model of a Pongal ceremony made by students from the local Tamil school. Pongal — meaning ‘to overflow’ — refers to a ritual in which sweet rice is made in an earthen pot, and brought to boil over as offering to the Gods. The Tamil Temple will lead a Pongal ceremony in the Bedford Road car park, next to the Gallery at 11am.

There will also be a colouring activity with pictures depicting the main elements of a typical Pongal ceremony.

All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Image: HERVISIONS

Small Things Are Possible: A Gathering

RADICAL LANDSCAPES PROGRAMME

Saturday 16 December 2023

The afternoon will begin with an in-conversation with artist Abel Holsborough and chef and food writer Melek Erdal, about Abel’s practice, this commission, the connections between Caribbean identity and allotment culture in the UK. Exploring ideas around land, heritage, and food.

Followed by the screening of two short films: The BAFTA award winning short film ‘Our Land,’ directed by Alexandra Genova. The story of two black food growers from London as they search for land to launch their business. Refusing to be held back by barriers of race or class, they are determined to carve their own path in the predominantly white industry. Plus, a documentary filmed and directed by Mark Aitken following a group of East London allotment holders who face losing their plots at the 100 year old Manor Garden Allotments in Hackney Wick as part of the 2012 London Olympic redevelopment plans. A eulogy to a place and it’s people.

To end the afternoon there will be a seed swap facilitated by Wolves Lane Seed Protectors – a group of community growers and educators, who are creating a seed network and resource bank open to all. Seed swapping and reclaiming is important for growers of all scales, from allotment plot holders to farmers. Passing on knowledge and improving access to food. Even if you don’t have growing experience, please do take seeds home and bring some to swap if you have them.

There will be refreshments provided, an opportunity to connect with other local growers, and experience the ‘Small Things Are Possible’ installation as the sun sets.

With thanks to our friends at the London Freedom Seed Bank.

About Abel Holsborough

Abel is an artist who uses photography, writing and performance to explore the un-monumental and question what constitutes ‘useful’ art. Their interest in obscure histories and ‘not-quite’ archives also feeds into their work at Brixton Windmill where they are the lead miller of the last working windmill in London. Their collaborative works with organisations such as Artsadmin (Artist in Residence 2023/24), Grizedale Arts and Create London often link to ideas of home, place-making and community.

@akidinlondon

About Melek Erdal

Melek Erdal is an Alevi Kurdish writer, cook and community activist who grew up in North and East London. Melek juggles work in local government and the public sector as an advocate for interdisciplinary projects exploring culture, history and identity. Her recipes, voice and words have featured in the Guardian, BBC Radio 4 and Vittles, as well as ongoing work with food sustainability charities; Made in Hackney and the Felix Project.

@mels_place_east

About Wolves Lane Seed Protectors

We are Champions of plants and people. We are sharing and inviting knowledge about our seed heritage(s). Seed sovereignty is radical yet innocuous. Local seeds for local peoples.

Image by Abel Holsborough

In Conversation with Veronica Ryan

TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS

Thursday 18 January 2024

We are proud to be welcoming Veronica Ryan in a discussion about her extraordinary career and the themes and motivations around her work. Ryan won last year’s Turner Prize for her solo exhibition Along a Spectrum at Spike Island, works from which are included in our current exhibition Radical Landscapes, and for her public sculptures celebrating the Windrush Generation in Hackney. Her sculptures and installations examine environmental concerns, personal narratives and memories, as well as the wider psychological implications of history, trauma and recovery.  A former resident of Leyton, Ryan last showed work at the William Morris Gallery in a group show  ‘E11 Works on Paper’ in the 1980s and we are very proud to see her return.

The artist will be joined in conversation with Hadrian Garrard, Director of the William Morris Gallery, co-curator of Radical Landscapes. Garrard worked previously with Ryan, leading the Hackney Windrush Commissions as Director of Create London. The event will be followed by an audience Q&A.

  • 6.30pm – Doors open
  • 7pm – Talk and Q&A
  • 8pm – Radical Landscapes curator’s tour

Please ‘pay what you can’ for your ticket. Our suggested donation is £7.50.

Image: Veronica Ryan. Photographed by Erdem Moralioglu for Harper’s Bazaar

Art Without Heroes

Mingei

CURRENT EXHIBITION

Saturday 23 March - Sunday 22 September 2024

Art Without Heroes: Mingei is the most wide-ranging exhibition in the UK dedicated to Mingei, the influential folk-craft movement that developed in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s. With works including ceramics, woodwork, paper, toys, textiles, photography and film, the exhibition incorporates unseen pieces from significant private collections in the UK and Japan, along with museum loans and historic footage from the Mingei Film Archive.

Mingei is a term coined by the Japanese philosopher and critic Yanagi Sōetsu (1889-1961) to mean ‘the art of the people’ and ascribes cultural value and aesthetic purity to traditional craft objects, unnamed makers and a simpler way of life. The exhibition considers Mingei both as a historical moment and as a set of principles that remain relevant to contemporary craft, manufacturing and material consumerism worldwide.

Like the British Arts and Crafts movement, Mingei was a response to rapid industrialisation. Mingei developed in dialogue with the work of William Morris and his contemporaries, within a specifically Japanese context that included the strong influence of Pure Land Buddhism. The exhibition also introduces the significance of Korean, Okinawan and Ainu objects to the Mingei movement, showing how these independent cultures contributed to what tends to be seen as a quintessentially Japanese aesthetic.

Divided into three parts, the exhibition starts with the 19th-century craft objects the Mingei movement looked to for inspiration. The second part of the exhibition focuses on the origin and evolution of the Mingei movement during the 20th century. Spearheaded by Yanagi, Japanese studio potter Hamada Shōji (1894-1978) and British studio potter Bernard Leach (1887-1979), it proposed an alternative to the rise of industrialism that accompanied the modernisation of Japanese society. Together Yanagi, Hamada and Leach, who described themselves as the ‘three musketeers’, championed the Mingei ideals of ‘art without heroes’, true beauty and traditional craft skills, leading a revival of interest in folk crafts.

The final section of the exhibition considers 21st-century iterations of the Mingei movement and modern re-interpretations of its core values. It shows how the term ‘Mingei’ has been reinterpreted and reclaimed by contemporary artists, including work by Theaster Gates which explores the spiritual and artistic dialogue between Black and Japanese craft traditions, a key concern of his practice.

Designed by Hayatsu Architects and graphic design studio Stinsensqueeze, the exhibition is accompanied by a major new publication by Yale University Press, edited by curator Roisin Inglesby.

Art Without Heroes: Mingei is produced in collaboration with the Japan Foundation and is supported by The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and Maak Foundation.

Image: Hamada demonstrating in California 1953. From the collections of the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts. 

Read the full press release here.

Highlights from the Mingei Film Archive

Making Objects for Daily Use (Mingei Film Archive)

A table lit with candles, with a paper origami ship.

Celebration Supper Club

With Stories & Supper

RADICAL LANDSCAPES PROGRAMME

Thursday 7 December 2023

Stories & Supper brings refugees, asylum seekers and the local community together over food and stories, to create a different migration narrative.

Arrive at 7pm for a welcome drink and amuse bouche, before sitting down for a three course meal which will take you on a journey from Central Africa to Latin America, from the Caucasus to Sri Lanka, ending with a homage to the beloved quince tree at the Stories & Supper allotment.

Your meal will be interspersed with poetry readings and stories from the refugees and asylum seekers in the Stories & Supper community.

Read more about Stories & Supper.

 

Moon at night through the trees

William Morris Gallery & The Hive present: Nightwalk

With Misery

OFF SITE

Saturday 17 February 2024

Inspired by social movements such as Right to Roam, Reclaim the Night and the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, William Morris Gallery and The Hive present Nightwalk, an evening packed full of outdoor and creative activities.

The event begins at Chingford Station, where participants join our invited walking group guides to ramble through Epping Forest to reach The Hive Climate and Environment Education Centre – in the middle of the forest. We’ll be joined by Epping Forest Heritage Trust guides as well as the GEM Family Hike group for this journey.

At The Hive, a range of activities will be on offer both indoors and outdoors. The Hive will be offering fire pit building, bushcraft and other nocturnal animal inspired activities. Sober club night and mental health collective, Misery, will be taking over The Lodge and the historic Suntrap building for music performances and creative workshops, all inspired by the local landscape and history of Epping Forest.

Enjoy food and drink from The Gleaners Community Cafe  throughout the night. Normally based at the Hornbeam Centre, The Gleaners is a community cafe that uses surplus produce — quality ingredients that would otherwise go to waste — to make tasty, plant-based meals.

Timings:

4pm – 5pm Walk from Chingford Station to The Hive, Epping Forest

5pm – 8pm Music, performances, and activities for all (5pm – 6pm family friendly)

6pm – 7pm Option for younger audiences to walk back to Chingford station

8pm – 9pm Walk back from The Hive, Epping Forest, to Chingford Station

 

About Misery

Misery is a playful mental health collective and sober rave led by and for queer, trans, intersex, people of colour with lived experience of madness, addiction, disability, trauma, and neurodivergence. we co-create accessible sober spaces, services, practices and resources to cultivate communities of care that can support and sustain the collective healing and resilience of queer, trans, intersex Black, indigenous and people of colour. misery is a reminder that you’re not too sensitive, it’s mad out here.

Since early 2022, Misery has run monthly, in-person, plant magic gatherings called ‘misery medicine’ which have seen hundreds of QTIBPOC gather in green spaces across London. Guided by community herbalists, we learn about the medicinal properties of the plants that grow freely around us, communally forage and make tea and tinctures, and engage in healing art practices held by the nature around us.

@miseryparty

 

About The Hive

The Hive (previously Suntrap) has been offering environmental education for over 50 years at a beautiful, inspiring location in Epping Forest. The Hive is dedicated to fostering a deep understanding of the environment and its intricate connections with the climate. Through immersive experiences, hands-on activities, and expert guidance, The Hive seeks to empower individuals of all ages to become informed stewards of the Earth.  Their aim is to inspire curiosity, instill awareness, and encourage sustainable actions that positively impact the planet through interactions with the natural world in the beautiful environment of Epping Forest.

@hiveintheforest

 

Our walking guides and groups

The Epping Forest Heritage Trust is a charity and a membership organisation with a big mission to inspire people about Epping Forest, and to conserve and protect its irreplaceable biodiversity, culture and heritage now and for generations to come. It operates across the whole of Epping Forest, covering 6,000 acres stretching from Manor Park in East London to Epping in Essex.

www.efht.org.uk

The GEM Family Hike is a monthly walking group, created as a way of connecting Global Ethnic Majority families and enjoying nature together. The group meets on the first Sunday of the month to explore Walthamstow Marshes and Wetland.

@gemfamilyhike

 

Image: by Neven Kremarek

William Morris Gallery in the snow

Winter Late

at William Morris Gallery

SPECIAL EVENTS

Thursday 30 November 2023

On Thursday 30 November we’re keeping the Gallery open after hours for a Winter Late event to celebrate the festive season.

There’s something for visitors of all ages to enjoy, including:

  • Crafts – Create your own Victorian Yuletide pomander. This drop-in activity will be available on the first-floor landing, starting at 5pm and running until 8pm. Suitable for children (aged 5+)
  • Curator-led tours – Join tours of the Radical Landscapes exhibition at 7pm, 7.30pm, and 8pm. Simply sign up at the front desk to participate.
  • Music – Enjoy performances by the Rose and Crown Singers.
  • Late night shopping – The William Morris Gallery Shop is offering a 10% discount on selected items.
  • Deeney’s Cafe at William Morris Gallery – Sip on mulled wine and  a variety of seasonal treats.

Admission is FREE.

Image: © William Morris Gallery 

Supporting and caring for your body after birth

With Community Apothecary

RADICAL LANDSCAPES PROGRAMME

Saturday 18 November 2023

Exploring cross-cultural practices with foods, herbs, body recovery and support through the transitional time following birth.

Join Katie and Rasheeqa of Community Apothecary for a participatory session sharing knowledge and learning about foods, herbs and practices to support healthy bodies, minds and souls.

This is an opportunity to discuss and exchange cultural traditions that support vitality, nourishment, and recovery after birth. Exploring Unani Tibb (Arab Islamic), Ayurvedic (Indian) and western principles.

We invite you to share experiences and traditions from your culture and background.

Please book with donation. Pay what you wish.

Babies are most welcome to join. However please note that we do not have creche facilities. Babies must be supervised by their carer. We will also have a designated breastfeeding room for those who wish to use it.

Please note: This event is a celebration of a range of cultural practices and the Council does not necessaily endorse any of its content. For new parents, the Council specifically funds, promotes and endorses services delivered in our Family Hubs, including support provided by HENRY, Lloyd Park Children’s Charity and the health visiting service.

Urdu translation:

 

 

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