The temporary architecture of Covid-19

Mobile Testing Unit, Canada Water

 Is anybody documenting the temporary architecture of COVID-19?

All those pop-up testing, vaccine and booster centres. White marquees in lockdown-emptied carparks. Public buildings grand and shabby transformed into collection points for saliva and mucus. Neighbourhood chemists with queues round the block administering life-saving vaccines.

Testing Centre by Devonport House, Greenwich

In a nation obsessed with memories of a war that hardly any living person now remembers, analogies are often drawn between the Blitz and the pandemic. Absurd in many ways – viruses are not waging war on us, just reproducing in the conditions of the world we have created. But maybe there are parallels with the vanished bomb shelters that sprang up in World War Two- places of huge significance that largely disappeared when no longer needed, evidenced only by fading signs painted on nearby walls. Nobody is cowering in a test centre fearing sudden death from above but there is a quieter diffuse fear. For some people taking that test was the first step onto a journey that ended in hospital and death. For many that injection was what saved their life.

Booster vaccine queue at New Cross Pharmacy/Waldron Centre

Waldron Health Centre, Amersham Vale SE14. Mural reads (in English and Spanish) 'I feel it is my duty to protect myself and my community'

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And what of that instant workforce, thousands of people in the front line of the pandemic, a global precariat performing vital tasks on casual contracts employed not by the NHS but by companies like Sodexo. Who is documenting the stories of the ‘Test Operatives’?

We can only hope that one day we will be able to look back and wonder that this was ever how we lived our lives. But for now it sometimes feels that it’s been going on for so long that we risk ceasing to notice how extraordinary this all is.

Walk Through Testing Site, Vanguard Street, Deptford

Lewisham Civic Suite, Catford (and below)

The Covid Memorial Wall

The National Covid Memorial Wall has been painted over the last month by volunteers along the South Bank of the Thames between Lambeth Bridge and Westminster Bridge, opposite the Houses of Parliament, and including the riverside wall in front of St Thomas' Hospital. There are around 150,000 hearts, each representing one of the UK Covid dead (so far) and many of them dedicated to named individuals. This unofficial memorial was started by people involved with Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice UK.

It is hard to do justice to the scale of this monument in photographs, stretching as it does for around 500 metres. I strongly recommend that if you get the chance you visit it yourself.

Harder too to keep a dry eye as you read the names and messages on the wall, and feel a rising sense of sadness and anger.

The impact of Covid is so often rendered as a series of statistics in which the individual lives lost and damaged are rendered invisible, the wall places these lives back at the centre - mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, lovers and friends.

'The UK has one of the highest death tolls in the world. While many have become used to seeing the statistics associated with Covid-19, it is important to remember that each one of these numbers represents a loved person, a life gone too soon and a family torn apart. Our loved ones were not just numbers, but treasured relatives who will be missed forever.

As more and more information comes to light, it has become clear that the UK hasn’t ended up with one of the highest death tolls in the world by coincidence. Gaps in the country’s pandemic preparedness, delays to locking down, inadequate supplies of PPE and the policy of discharging into care homes among other issues have all been identified as having contributed to the level of the death toll. Despite this, the government continues to refer to its ‘apparent success’ and being ‘proud’ of its record. Not only is this deeply hurtful for bereaved families who have already gone through a traumatic loss to hear, but this reluctance to engage honestly with what has gone wrong is a barrier to learning. Every day the government fails to learn lessons, more families are going through the same loss and trauma. It is heart breaking to see the same mistakes repeated over and over'

(Covid 19 Bereaved Families for Justice)

Most of the names on the memorial are of UK dead but good to see acknowledgement too of the global dimension of the pandemic including a heart for Li Wenliang, the Wuhan doctor who was one of the first to raise the alarm about Covid.

'When politicians and experts say that they are willing to allow tens of thousands of premature deaths for the sake of population immunity or in the hope of propping up the economy, is that not premeditated and reckless indifference to human life? If policy failures lead to recurrent and mistimed lockdowns, who is responsible for the resulting non-covid excess deaths? When politicians wilfully neglect scientific advice, international and historical experience, and their own alarming statistics and modelling because to act goes against their political strategy or ideology, is that lawful? Is inaction, action? How big an omission is not acting immediately after the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020? At the very least, covid-19 might be classified as “social murder”'

(Kamran Abbasi, Covid-19: Social murder, they wrote—elected, unaccountable, and unrepentant, British Medical Journal editorial, 4 February 2021)

Hilly Fields Jazz Police?

Summer evenings this year have seen some remarkable gatherings on Hilly Fields. In the area by the park's stone circle - an ancient monument dating back to 2000 - a group of young jazz musicians have been playing improvised sessions watched by people relaxing on the grass. I believe the sessions have mostly been on Monday nights, though there was also one on July 12th linked to the Black Lives Matter event in the park that day.

Last week though (Monday 3rd August) the session was ordered to stop by the police. It is unclear whether this was due to concerns about Covid 19 regulations, licensing issues or a complaint about noise. The  musicians have a lot of support locally,  as expressed in one facebook comment: 'This event is something very special, the atmosphere is out of this world. Was taken out of London and floating on air. Smiles all round, warm energies, dancing to the amazing music on the air. Seeing the musicians all buzz off one another is incredible. Such a shame if it's shut down now'. The photo below, by Cath Dupuy, shows the scene last Monday before the event came to a premature end.

(photo by Cath Dupuy)

Hopefully a way forward can be found to enable something to continue, for now the musicians are considering taking their talents elsewhere (I have come across similar gatherings on Peckham Rye). 

The bigger picture for me is how amazing it is that in 2020 there should be a vibrant, multiracial community of young musicians playing jazz for an appreciative public! South East London is recognised internationally as a centre for this new movement that has spawned Ezra Collective and Catford's Moses Boyd among many others. A while ago Kate Hutchinson wrote up  'A sweaty night out in London's new jazz scene' in the New York Times (19 October 2018):  'In a tiny converted railway arch south of the River Thames, a mosh pit had formed in front of a three-way brass-off. The house band played from the floor, as if it were a punk show. Other musicians crowded around, waiting for their turn... In London, a new generation is challenging jazz’s stuffy reputation as the conservatory-honed noodlings of middle-aged musicians for affluent — and seated — audiences'. The night featured was a Steam Down session at Buster Mantis bar in Deptford.

As John Lewis highlighted recently in The Guardian, this new 'cosmopolitan vision of jazz' is very much shaped by 'The multicultural nature of London'. Key scene figure Shabaka Hutchings notes that it incorporates influences from  'Dub, dancehall, calypso, soca, Afrobeat, highlife, township jive, nyabinghi – all put through the filter of rave and house and hip-hop' (Add some township jive! How London's jazz scene set itself apart, Guardian, 27 May 2020). Many of the musicians are from South London,  either by origin and/or having studied on the influential jazz course at Trinity Laban college in Greenwich/Deptford.

You really have to go back to  the acid jazz clubs of 1980s/90s  or maybe even the jazz raves of the 1950s to find anything like a similar energy. And when was a jazz event last stopped by the police?  Punk gigs, grime nights, reggae blues parties and acid house raves have all felt the force of the law in the last thirty years, but let's face it jazz couldn't get arrested.  Surely there can be no surer sign of the rebirth of cool! 

(photo by @SwanAroundPhotos)

Covid-19 South London Street Art, volume 2

Earlier on in the pandemic I did a post on Covid-19 street art in South London. In that first month of the lockdown it was all rainbows and chalk messages in support of NHS workers. Here's another round up of picture from May and June 2020.

Expressions of support for the NHS are still to be seen in plenty of places, including some fine rainbows.

'big up the NHS' - Lewisham town centre

Redecorated tank, off Mandela Way SE1

Deptford Cinema, Deptford Broadway

New Cross House, Laurie Grove SE14

NHS workers and patient on New Cross House by @deanio_x and @seen_k26 - perhaps reflecting on the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities and workers

Other key workers have also got some appreciation, such as bus drivers:

Bus stop, Honor Oak Estate

The weekly Thursday nights 'clap for carers' with people cheering from their doorsteps came to an end after 10 weeks with the first signs of the lockdown easing. There was a bit of an emerging strain between community celebration and state-sponsored show of national unity (e.g. politicians advertising their participation) - 'clapping is not enough' as a placard in New Cross put it.  Still the mass support shown for the National Health Service will make  it politically difficult to cut funding to it in the economic downturn ahead. 'Thank you NHS' doesn't mean 'thank you Government', as a billboard in Lewisham's Molesworth Street graphically illustrated:

'RIP 151++ key workers' 'Clapping is not enough'  -
Lewisham Way outside Goldsmiths

'Support NHS Staff ', 'SSP [statutory sick pay] for care home workers'
Lewisham Way outside Goldsmiths

These banners in Lewisham town centre urged people not to forget those at risk of Covid locked up in prisons and immigration detention centres:

'Social distancing in detention centres is impossible. Confirmed Covid-18 cases. Non one should fear hospital in risk of deportation'

A rainbow by artmongers has brightened up the railway bridge that on Aspinall Road, off Drakefell Road:

Of course the rainbow is also an LGBT+ symbol, as noted by whoever stencilled this message and some symbols on the railway bridge rainbow. On local social media forums there were some objections to this re-appropriation of the rainbow, but hey it's all part of the ongoing dialogue of street art.

The history of the LGBT+ rainbow flag, Aspinall Road bridge

South London Trans People,  Aspinall Road bridge

Some graffiti just reminded people not to get too carried away by fear... 

'it'll be OK', Lewisham Way

Love>Fear, Deptford

Fear is the Virus, Douglas Way, SE8

The community mutual aid that sprung up early in the pandemic has continued, in some cases becoming a highly organised system of food deliveries, as well as picking up prescriptions etc.  

'Nunhead Knocks' community support

Covid-19 street art, volume 1

Covid-19 might have led to physical distancing but, as many have observed, the need for social communication and organisation has never been more apparent. In  this post I am focusing on one aspect of that - public expressions relating to the pandemic as seen on the streets of SE London (examples mainly from Brockley/New Cross/Nunhead area unless otherwise stated). There is a wave of spontaneous street/folk art bubbling up in windows, pavements, hoardings and many other places.

The first wave of creativity accompanied the launch of community self-help/mutual aid. The first public sign of this was the launch of the Lewisham Covid 19 Mutual Aid facebook group on March 12th, a good ten days before the Government implemented a lockdown. Soon flyers were dropping through letterboxes and posters going up all over the place, as people set up local groups at neighbourhood and street level. Today there are well established networks in most areas, there is lots of informal checking in on neighbours and co-ordinated responses to requests to pick up shopping and medicines, along with more ambitious efforts such as delivering food parcels to those who need it most (such as the scheme being run from Telegraph Hill area). If in some streets there hasn't been much need to go beyond setting up a whatsapp group, it is good to know that the support is there when required. Here's a couple of early examples of leaflets, from Telegraph Hill and Brockley respectively (click to enlarge).

'If you're self isolating you are not alone' (Telegraph Hill leaflet) 

'Need the support of your community during Covid-19? We can help' (Brockley leaflet)

The key visual image of pandemic street art has been the children's painting of a rainbow, displayed in a window as a general expression of hope. This seems to have started in Italy and spread internationally.

Some people have taken the rainbow on to another level - here's a balloon arch from Waller Road SE14:

Another international trend has been the bear hunt - strategically placed teddy bears for children to spot when they are out and about with their parents during their exercise stroll. This bear is giving thanks not to just emergency services but to food producers, shop workers, delivery people and... cats:

In Britain over the last couple of weeks the rainbow has merged  with another key trope - support for people working in the National Health Service. Here's some chalked examples:

Ravensbourne Park

Ivydale Road

'thank you NHS & Key workers - stay safe' (Ivydale Road)

NHS on Gellatly Road, opposite Skehans pub

 Elsewhere there have been banners, like this one:

'Thank you NHS' - Frendsbury Gardens, Honor Oak Estate (detail below)

Rushey Green - 'Care for each other'

The 'Trees on the Green' sculptures at Rushey Green have been decorated with pictures from children and staff at St John Baptist Primary School in Catford.

Similar sentiments have been expressed in street art pieces like these:

'We are blessed to have the NHS' - Geoffrey Road, SE4 (by Harry Blackmore)

NHS superhero, Hilly Fields

These graphic outpourings of support for NHS workers have been matched by public cheering on Thursday nights at 8 pm (for three consecutive weeks so far). In many places people have been clapping and generally making noise from their doors and windows. On my street in SE14 it has got busier and noisier over the three weeks, with banging of saucepans and even a couple of trumpets. It is both a gesture of solidarity and an affirmation of community, the only time in the week when we get to see our neighbours in any numbers.

I've seen some remarks online to the effect that what frontline workers in the health service need is better pay, more funding and Personal Protective Equipment, rather than cheers. But these need not be mutually exclusive. What is being shown appreciation on Thursday nights is not the limitations of the top down, under-resourced NHS with its various hierarchies and bureaucracies but the value of care and the principle that it must be there for all regardless of wealth. And of course respect for those shouldering the risk of providing this while many of us stay at home (not that this is limited to the NHS, let's not forgot teachers, social workers, care home staff etc.).

Many other people are having to travel to work and mix with colleagues because their employers have rather dubiously classed their work as essential. The reluctance of some companies to prioritise the health of their staff and customers by closing was highlighted at Wetherspoons pub chain, before they were forced to close by lockdown restrictions. This sticker from staff at the Brockley Barge highlighted their campaign for 'real sick pay now':

'Living wage for Brockley Barge staff'

Now with so many places closed we have become familiar with notices on doors explaining their position. This one is from the Old Nun's Head pub looking forward to reopening when 'this absolute bastard of  a virus has finally buggered off':

If ordinary politics seems to have been temporarily put on hold, it will no doubt return. A global pandemic affecting people everywhere might open the way for planetary humanist responses,  but equally it could be the precursor to a climate of blame in which various 'others' are held responsible. There are questions about what labour gets valued, how health and care services are resourced, what kind of 'normality' do we want to go back to? There has been some political graffiti locally but there will be a lot more political debate and controversy to come. 

'Pandemic to class war - don't trust Boris' - Lewisham town centre

'Covid futurism - economy of care - universal basic income - bury capital'
(the closed Black Horse and Harrow pub in Catford - most recently 'The Ninth Life')

And of course once again we are thankful for the success of our fight to stop the Government from closing Lewisham Hospital. The fallacy of reducing hospital services to a bare minimum with no capacity to respond to surges in illness has surely been exposed once and for all. Lives are being saved today at Lewisham as a result of the thousands who marched and campaigned back in 2013.

'Save Lewisham Hospital' campaign thanking NHS staff last month and
 calling for 'personal protection equipment for them now'

A message from some Lewisham staff - 'I stayed at work for you. Please stay at home for me!'